One of Them
by writerchic16
Summary: Fi has always known that her family was different. She just didn't know how. R&R COMPLETE
1. Memory

One of Them

A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first attempt at a "So Weird" fanfic, and my second fanfic overall. Now, if you look through the So Weird category, you'll notice something – every single story has some type of romantic plot to it. Well, I'm sick of that. I'm just going to stick to what the show was really about: weird stuff. Oh, by the way, this takes place after "Twin" and before "Lightning Rod." Annie hasn't come into the Phillips' lives yet, and in my stories, never will. I don't really hate Annie, but the show was meant to have Fi in it. I'm sure there are some Annie-lovers out there, but I think the majority still think of "So Weird" as Fiona's show.

Disclaimer: Ok, why do people bother putting this in here? I mean, I think it's pretty obvious that none of us own any of the characters we write about. If we did it wouldn't be posted on , it would be made into an episode. Oh, and I'm just putting the disclaimer here instead of in every chapter. What's the point?

Ok, you're right – I do ramble on and on and on. I promise I'll start the story now.

Molly Phillips leaned against the door of her daughter, Fiona's, bedroom. She did not like what she saw. Fiona, or Fi, as most called her, was searching through a large, old book. Molly instantly recognized it as the book of Celtic magic spells Fiona had received from her aunt Melinda. Immediately her forehead creased with worry. What was Fiona up to now?  
In order to understand Molly's concern, you would have to know the Phillips' basic family history. Fiona always had an interest, maybe even an obsession, with the paranormal. Just like her dead father, Rick. When Fiona first started her investigations, Molly noticed the connection right away. That brought back memories of her husband's last few years, and how she had worried about him so much. At first it had started as just a curiosity – a ghost sighting here, a UFO there. But then, after a year or two, it became a full-fledged obsession. The supernatural was all Rick ever talked about. And the more he became involved in it, the more Molly refused to believe it, even though most of the time the evidence was staring her right in the face. She wasn't close- minded, exactly. In fact, half the times she said she didn't believe him, she actually did. Molly was just afraid that if she encouraged him, he wouldn't be afraid to let this hobby take over his life. She practiced the same theory with Fiona. However, in the end her denial did nothing to save him. During the last few months of his life, Rick was positive he discovered something. He claimed it was a way to defeat evil forces that dwelled in the spirit realm. This was the last straw. A few weeks before the car crash, she had vented her anger and fear, but mostly her concern for his well being. Rick had overreacted, and they wound up having a huge fight. Molly counts her lucky stars every day that they had made up before his death.

**_FLASHBACK_**

Then, there was that fateful night. It was what had become normal for them – Molly was on the couch, trying to get baby Fiona to go to sleep. Jack, a toddler, was upstairs sleeping in his room. Rick was doing research, which was spread over the coffee table. Then, all of a sudden, he jumped up, "I have to go. I'll be back in a little while." He started gathering his papers in a hurry. Molly had just stared at him, "Rick, it's 9:30 at night. It's dark outside – can't it wait until tomorrow?" Inside, she was panicking, but she tried not to show it. "But Molly, I think I finally figured it out. I have to go make sure I'm right.." He started towards the door. "I'll be back soon – I promise." "Well, alright, if it means that much to you..." That's what she said, but she actually felt like strapping his leg to the couch with a 50 pound- weight. She just knew something bad was going to happen. She always knew when something bad was going to happen. Sighing, Molly carefully placed the sleeping Fiona on the couch and got up. Going over to Rick, she kissed him. Something told her she should make this one count, so she kissed him on the lips for almost a full minute. "I'll wait up for you." With that, Rick went out the door. She had received the call at midnight – Rick was dead.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

"Mom, you've been standing there for a few minutes now. Did you need anything?"  
Fiona's voice cut through Molly's daydream. "What...? Oh, sorry, baby. I just came up to check on you. You've been in your room for a few hours." She went over and sat next to Fi. "Are you looking for anything in particular?" She referred to the magic book that was still open in Fi's lap.  
"Oh, yeah. Well, Jack's been an annoying big brother lately, so I was looking for a spell that would turn him into a toad." Fiona was only kidding, of course, but changed her tone when she saw the panic rise in her mother's face. "Mom, I was joking."  
"Oh, right."  
Was it just her imagination, but did Molly look a little pale? "Mom, are you ok?"  
"I'm...fine. I was just thinking about your father a few minutes ago. You and him are so alike sometimes."  
"Oh..." Fiona didn't know what to say at times like this. Sure, she missed her dad, but she knew her mom missed him a whole lot more. She pretended to look through her spell book while she waited for Molly to say something...anything.  
Molly studied her daughter. She looked so serious...so intent. Molly wasn't lying when she had compared Rick and Fi. While she was standing by the door, she almost thought she was watching Rick doing research. She felt a lump rise in her throat, but quickly swallowed it. "Fiona, you know I don't like all this paranormal stuff."  
Fi sighed as she stood up. She and Molly had had this conversation a million times before, and it always ended the same way. Molly would express her disapproval of her daughter's hobby, and Fiona would say how she didn't care – she was going to do it anyway. Then, Molly would walk out in a huff, and they wouldn't speak to each other for a week. "Mom, let's not do this again..."  
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending how you looked at it, Fiona saw a spark outside her bedroom window. Feeling her face whiten, she gasped. "No...it couldn't be..."  
But it was. Seconds later, the small ball of light, known to Fiona as Bricriu, flew through the closed window. Fiona threw herself across her mother, just as the Will O' the Wisp made a beeline for Molly. Fiona was furious as she shouted, "You even think about taking over her body again and I'll say your name so fast you won't know what hit you!"  
The ball of light, generally known as a Spunkie, stopped in its tracks. "Aw, little duck, you're no fun!"  
"Not when it comes to evil spirits possessing my family!" Though she was crushing her shocked mother onto the bed, she refused to move. "Promise you won't go into her body!"  
"Alright, little duck. Besides, what's the point if you're just going to say my name anyway?" The Spunkie spoke in a thick Scottish accent.  
A little reluctantly, Fiona got off her mother. However, Molly still thought she was having a panic attack...or at least a nightmare. Who...what...is that thing? And why does my daughter seem to know it? Out loud, in the most stable voice she could muster, Molly demanded, "Fiona Phillips, what in the world is going on?"


	2. Revelations

A/N: I'm really really sorry I took so long with this chapter. At first it was just taking me long to write, but then my computer crashed and I couldn't use it for like a week. I think this was worth waiting for. I hope you like it.

Chapter 2 – Revelations

As soon as she asked it, Molly knew the answer to her own question. _But I thought I gave that stuff up...or did I?_ She calmed down a little, then looked over at Fiona. She almost felt bad for her daughter. Fi had a panic stricken look on her face, and Molly could tell she was trying to figure out what to tell her. _Maybe it's time I told her the truth._

"Mom...I, uh..." Fiona was getting more and more confused. First her mother looked horrified, now she looks almost...relieved?

"Awww, Molly, are ye tryin' to tell me ye don' remember me?" Bricriu sounded genuinely upset.

"Wait...what are you talking about?" Fiona looked from her mother, to Bricriu, then back again, and waited for an answer.

"WHAT? Molly, you haven't told Fi yer past yet? You were supposed to have two years ago!"

"Will everybody be quiet for a second!" Molly stood up and looked at the Spunkie. "Can you leave us alone for a few minutes? I have to talk to Fiona."

"Alright, I'll be downstairs. I've always wondered what human T.V. was like." With that, he went out, and the door closed behind them.

Fi's head was brimming with questions. _My mom knows Bricriu? My mom, who has never believed in anything supernatural? And why didn't she ever tell me?_ But all she could do was repeat Molly's question, "Mom, what's going on?"

Molly looked over at Fiona's confused face, closed her eyes, and sighed. She knew this wasn't going to be easy. _Well, here goes nothing._ Opening her eyes, she sat down on the bed, and Fiona did the same. "Baby, what I'm about to tell you might be a little surprising..."

Fi's eyebrow shot up. "Mom, you're scaring me."

Molly couldn't help but smile. _For once it's not the other way around._ "Look, for starters let's say you didn't get your interest in the paranormal just from your father."

"You mean, you have the sight too?"

"Not exactly. You see, the truth is...I'm a witch. Or used to be, anyway."

Fi's mouth had dropped open the minute she heard the word "witch". "What do you mean, 'used to be'?"

"Before I answer that, I need to tell you a story." Molly took a deep breath. _This is going to take a while._ "Before I even knew your father, I had been a young witch just developing my powers. However, everyone I knew could see that I had potential. I could do things not even advanced witches could do at a young age. I was well on my way to becoming one of the most powerful witches of that time."

"What happened?"

"Your father 'happened'. We had met early in both our music careers, and boy, if there is such a thing as love at first sight, it happened when I met Rick. We immediately hit it off and started dating."

"There was one problem. I was a witch, and he was a mortal. Not just any mortal, mind you, but one with the sight. He was the worst type of human I could go out with."

"Why?"

Molly paused a moment before answering. "Well, witches have always been a little prejudice against mortals. We...I mean, they, consider themselves superior and encourages witches to stay within themselves. I was always against that unwritten rule in the first place, and when I met Rick, it strengthened my belief. However, when I found out he had the sight, I had mixed emotions."

"You see, mortals aren't supposed to know about magic at all, because they fear it and would try to destroy it. Even so, a few in the past with the sight have learned about it and tried to expose it. Everyone thought Rick was the same, but I knew he was different. He didn't seek out magic just to expose it – he wanted to do his best to protect his kind from evil."

"So we stayed together for about a year, but by then the agony of having to keep my secret, when I knew he was searching for the truth, was getting to me. I ended up having to make a choice. Either break up with Rick, or stay together and keep my mouth shut."

"Well, you obviously chose to marry him." Fi was engrossed in Molly's story. Part of her still couldn't believe that her mother was involved in something so romantic and magical.

"Actually, it's not so obvious. My father, who is also a witch, knew I was in the process of making a tough decision, so he made it for me. He said that if I did decide to stay with Rick, I would be disowned and stripped of my powers."

"In the end, I decided that Rick's love was more important than my powers could ever be. So, I cast a spell that would remove them. Not only that, I would also forget having them at all. All I would remember was having a normal childhood and grow up to be a normal adult."

There was one thing Fi didn't understand. "Wait a minute, we just visited Grandma and Grandpa this year." She distinctly remembered that during the visit, she had met a banshee that had threatened to kill her grandfather. "And another thing, how do you remember all this if you cast that spell?"

Molly at first was confused also, but had realized how she remembered as she had been telling the story. "I think the spell was broken a few seconds after Bricriu came flying through that window. He's something – a very annoying something, but still something – that is connected to past, therefore connecting me with it too. As for my parents, I guess after a while they felt guilty and welcomed me back. I was still under the spell, so I didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary."

"Wait a minute – I'm a mortal with the sight too. How is it possible that you are allowed to tell me this?"

Just then, Bricriu came in. "Actually, little duck, they loosened up over the years regarding security. Now a witch is allowed to tell family and people she trusts her secret." As an explanation, Bricriu added, "There's nothing on T.V., so I listened outside the door the whole time."

"Great, an extraterrestrial eavesdropper." Fi smiled, then turned to her mother. "But you didn't know that just now. So why did you tell me everything?"

"Because, Fiona – you're a witch too."

A/N: I know, I know – all talk and no action. I hope Molly's story was interesting enough to keep you reading, if not, I promise there will be more action later on. I just really need this chapter to explain everything.


	3. Visitor

Chapter 3 – Visitor

Fiona just sat there a minute, speechless. Then she asked the first thing that came out of her mouth, "Are you sure? How do you know?"

Molly shook her head. "Positive. I'm not exactly sure how I knew, it was like an instinct. It was weird – when the spell was broken, it's as if it were never cast. All the memories just came rushing back."

"Aye, and that's what usually happens when a spell is broken." Bricriu paused a moment, then said, "I have to go."

As he was about to exit through the window, Fi called out, "Wait! You never told us why you were here."

"I think I'll leave that to your father to explain. Until next time, little duck." With that, Bricriu went out the same way he came in – through the closed window.

Molly and Fi just stared at it for a few minutes, each trying to think of something to say. Finally, Fi asked, "So, do I have any powers?"

Molly smiled at her daughter's bluntness. "Yes, but I'm not exactly sure what they are. I mean, I know what mine are, but they vary."

"What can you do?" Fi asked eagerly. She knew watching her mother do magic would be weird, but, hey, she was used to weird.

"Ummm..." Molly concentrated, as if trying to remember. "Well, I know I have telekinesis and levitation. Every witch does. But, more specifically, I remember I got psychic visions a lot, and could read minds pretty easily."

"Whoa....that's so cool!" Fi thought a moment. "I wonder what my powers will be..."

"You'll find out eventually." Molly smiled. "You were supposed to have gotten your powers when you turned 13, but my spell probably passed on to you and they didn't show."

Something had been bothering Fiona ever since her mother started telling her story. Now she knew what it was. "Mom, is Jack...?"

Molly sighed. "Unfortunately no. He was born too soon after my incident. In fact, I'm still a little surprised that you got powers _and_ the sight."

"Just lucky, I guess. Although, I do feel a little bad for him." Fi gasped. "He is going to be so shocked when we tell him about this. And so is Carey, and Ned, and Irene..." Fi thought of Clu, but he was still at college.

"Actually, Fi, about that. We probably shouldn't tell them too soon...I mean, _we're_ still getting over it..."

"Yeah, I guess your right." Then, Fi grinned. "Show me some of your magic! Please??"

Molly laughed. "I'll try, but I'm probably still a bit rusty." She looked down at the magic book, then concentrated. The book abruptly shut itself and floated up to the shelf at the top of Fi's closet. Then, it wedged itself in vertically. Molly was a bit taken aback. "Well, I guess not that rusty..."

Fi giggled, then said, "I want to try!" She copied her mother's movements and stared at the book. It was barely able to get itself off the shelf, and a foot away from the bed it dropped to the floor. Disappointed, Fi shrugged, "I guess I'll have to work on that."

Due to the giggle fit that ensued, both Molly and Fi failed to notice the knock at the door. When Jack opened it, they froze, taking on a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look. "Do I _want_ to know?"

"No." Fi and Molly said in unison, instantly recovering, thus bringing on another round of laughter.

Rolling his eyes, Jack said, "Ned, Irene, and Carey are here for dinner. They're downstairs right now."

Molly sat up straight. "Oh no! I left the chicken in the oven!" She ran downstairs, and Fi and Jack could smell burnt stuffing all the way upstairs.

"Why was mom trying to cook again?" Fi asked.

"To prove to Irene that she could." This time, both Jack and Fi laughed as they went downstairs.

"Ah, now that was a good meal." Ned sighed contentedly. Everyone laughed. Fi and Jack had come down to find Molly sulking over a lost dinner, and Irene on her cell phone ordering Chinese food from the local take-out place. Chinese food containers lay all over the dining room table, and everyone was digesting after pigging out on sesame chicken, spare ribs, and fried rice. And everyone was trying not to tease Molly too much about her messed up dinner, but they were failing horribly.

"Poor guy, that chicken never had a chance." Carey teased.

"Look at it this way – I get two weeks rehearsals, scheduling-problem free." Irene smiled. She was Molly's, a singer who was currently trying to record her first solo album, manager and best friend. Irene also knew that Molly was known for being late or just canceling rehearsals, which was partially why she made the bet in the first place.

"Come on guys, stop it!" Molly could see that both Fi and Jack, her own children, were trying their hardest not to laugh. They couldn't, and started laughing hysterically, and everybody else joined in.

Suddenly, Irene's cell phone started ringing. "Excuse me everybody." Still fighting down her laughter, Irene got up and went into the living room. As soon as she got there however, she gasped. She couldn't move. Her phone rang two, three, four times before the answering machine picked up. For once, Irene didn't really care. Because, standing directly across from her on the other side of the room, casually leaning his elbow on the TV, was Rick.

A/N: I know, kind of short chapter (for me anyway), but I just had to leave it there. _Grins evilly_ I promise, more soon to come!


	4. Warning

**Jlyfishluver**: Good ideas, although I don't think I'll elaborate on the whole "Molly's parents" plot. It's not really necessary for the story. As for Jack being a reincarnated knight...hmmm....maybe if the story calls for it... _sits down and thinks_

Thanks to Jlyfishluver, B Oots, Fiona12690, and Cory (LOVE your site by the way) for the great reviews!

Sorry this took so long! It took a while to get it just right.

Irene stood there for a few minutes, just staring. Finally, she was able to move her mouth. "Molly! Fiona! Everybody get in here now!!!!"

Molly, Fi, Jack, Ned, and Carey bolted out of their seats and ran into the living room. "Irene, honey, what's the matter...." Molly's question died on her lips as her gaze fell on Rick. "Oh my God."

Instead of staring in shock like everyone else, Fi ran and threw her arms around her father's neck. "I missed you so much Daddy!"

"Fi, you just saw me a month ago." Rick laughed and hugged his daughter back. (A/N: For those of us who didn't catch on, this takes place a month after "Twin")

"She did?" Jack asked, after finding his voice. He couldn't believe it. Right in front of him was his father, who was supposed to have been dead for twelve years. Part of him shouted that this defied all reason; that there had to be some logical explanation for this. However, a much bigger part of him knew that this was real, and that this is his father. For once, he decided to follow his gut instinct and believe.

"I promise I will explain everything later." After prying Fiona off his neck, Rick continued to hug Irene, and then Jack, Ned and Carey, disregarding their offer of a manly handshake. Lastly he came to Molly.

Without hesitation, she jumped into Rick's outstretched arms, tightly wrapping her arms around his neck. "I can't believe you're here." Like Jack, she knew this was devoid of logic and reason, but she just knew it was him. There was no mistaking his body, his face, his lips... (A/N: I know I said no mushy stuff, but come on! Molly just saw her husband who's been dead for 12 years! There's gotta be something!!! P.S.: I'll tell why Rick's body isn't see through in a minute)

Ned cleared his throat. "I think this is our cue to leave."

Remembering the others were here, Rick reluctantly pulled away from Molly. "No, don't go. You need to know this too."

"Know what?" Now that Fi was over the shock of seeing her father again, she was impatient to know why he was here.

"I think you all better sit down." Heeding Rick's instruction, Molly, Fi, Jack, and Irene sat on the couch, Ned sat in the arm chair to the left, and Carey in the one on the right (A/N: I'm not exactly sure how the Phillips' living room is set up, so I'm kind of ad-libbing here. If anyone happens to have pictures of their house, or a floor plan, I would greatly appreciate it). Rick looked at their expectant faces, and couldn't help feeling a little nervous. He remembered his last encounter with Fi, and couldn't help thinking _Why am I always the bearer of bad news?_ _Can't I ever be allowed to stop by just to say hi?_ Swallowing the sudden lump that formed in his throat, Rick started with, "You are all in a lot of danger." _Great start. Could you have _been_ any more direct? _He silently chided himself.

Being the one most used to this sort of situation, Fi was the first one able to find her voice. "What do you mean?" After a minute, realization dawned on her. "You mean that demon thing?"

"Exactly. Let me tell you, he was extremely mad when he found out I pulled you up."

"Either of you mind telling us what you're talking about?" Carey's question, and his face, showed that he was thoroughly confused.

Fi briefly told them about her meeting a three-headed, huge black shadow creature. She made up most of it and didn't tell them about her falling off the roof of a multi-storied New York City building. They didn't need to know that she would have died, had not her father pulled her back up to safety.

Unfortunately, she forgot her brother was there. "Oh yeah, I remember that. But that's not what happened. We were about to go downstairs, when suddenly the door closed, leaving you on the roof and me and Aunt Rachel inside. When we realized you were trapped up there, we went to the floor directly below. We looked out one of the windows, and then saw you flip over the side and hang on to the ledge. Until now I never knew how you were able to get back up."

Irene stared at Fi. "Were you ever planning on telling us about this?"

"No, not really." Fi mumbled, then said aloud, "Back then, would any of you have believed I was attacked by a demon, pushed over the ledge, and that Daddy helped me back up?" Fi took their silence as a "No". Then she looked at Molly, "Mom, are you ok?"

"Yeah, baby, I'm fine. It's just...I knew you were in trouble. I think I had a...premonition." Molly looked unsure of what she was saying, as if deciding if it was true or not.

"Oh yeah. You looked totally freaked out right in the middle of your song." Carey confirmed. At the time, they had all been in New York, visiting Rick's twin sister Rachel, and because Molly had appeared on a talk show.

Ned directed his attention to Rick, "What did this, 'demon', want with Fiona?"

Fiona answered for him, "Because I knew too much about the spirit world, right Daddy?"

"Right, but there was also another reason that I wasn't allowed to tell you then. It wanted your powers." Rick looked pointedly at Molly as he was talking.

Jack voiced what everyone was thinking. "What 'powers'?"

Molly sighed, knowing it was her turn to give an explanation. (A/N: I know, I know, all they do is talk. I totally promise there will be more action later on.) She gave Ned, Irene, Jack and Carey the condensed version of what she told Fiona earlier that day, leaving in only the most important information. (Jack was relieved when he found out he wasn't a witch. He couldn't help thinking, _Man, it's good to be normal._)

Rick was surprised to hear that Molly gave up her powers for him. "You did that...for me?" He explained that soon after he died, he learned of his wife's secret past, and was more than a little shocked. However, he had not been informed of why she had made that decision.

"Of course I did, sweetie." For a moment they looked at each other adoringly.

Fi cleared her throat. "So...about this demon..."

Snapping out of it, Rick said, "Oh, yes, that. Well, it's called the Protector Demon. It was originally part of the Centorium, or the governing body of the spirit world. It's job was to keep mortals from finding out about them, and to "take care of" the ones that did. Well, eventually it was assigned to deal with me, since in my later years I had gained much information about the spirit world and its inhabitants. Which is why it took my soul, and then made the car crash to make it look like an accident."

At that, everyone just stared at him in shocked silence. Fi whispered, "I _knew_ it!" under her breath.

Letting the information sink in, Rick continued. "When the Centorium found out about this, they were furious. You see, they're not evil. The Protector was just supposed to erase my memory, like it does in other situations like this. However, for some reason, which is a mystery to me, he couldn't do it. So, I guess in a frustrated attempt to get his job done, he killed me. After that, he was thrown out of the Centorium into the underworld."

"So I guess he has some serious revenge issues." Carey concluded.

"Exactly. Which is why he is after you guys. But mostly he's after Molly and Fi. He's not stupid – he knows power when he sees it. In fact, half the underworld would give their front teeth just to get a shot at you two."

"Wow. We're _that_ powerful?" Fi was surprised. Sure, she knew certain demons were after their family. But she never knew they were that popular.

"Yes. At first he was after you guys because of me. But when he realized who you were, he figured 'why not kill two birds with one stone'?"

"How can we defend ourselves against a powerful demon?" Jack was still a little skeptical about this whole thing, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Rick smiled. "That's the good news. I'm to have to stick around here for a few weeks, maybe even a month. I need to help you two get a hold of your powers,"Rick looked at Fiona and Molly, "and I need to get the rest of you in shape for combat. Even though this is a shadow demon, he's not going to attack at once. He's going to send waves of human-shaped monsters to try and wear you down. Most likely you won't know when an attack is coming."

"So you're going to stay?" Molly was thrilled at the idea of getting to spend time with her husband, after being away from him for so long.

"Yes." Rick tried to keep his face calm, but inside he was jumping for joy. He was getting a chance to see his family again.

Irene glanced at the clock on top of the TV. "Well, it's getting late. We should be going."

"Maybe you guys should stay here tonight." Molly suggested. "Incase of any attacks." She looked at her husband for approval.

"That would be a good idea. Now that you're aware of the situation, there's nothing holding the Protector back."

"Alright then. Fi and Carey, you go upstairs and get the blankets, Jack, you go and get extra pillows. We're all sleeping in here tonight." Molly stood up to lock the doors and windows, and everyone got ready to go to bed.

As the group was settling into bed, Rick called out, "Rest up everyone – training starts tomorrow."


	5. Surprises

A/N: Wow, this chapter came out fast. I actually finished it in a day! I hope the rest of the chapters come this easily.

The digital clock on top of the TV read 9:30 am. Molly yawned as she rolled over on her makeshift mattress, only to find that Rick, who had slept next to her last night, wasn't there. For one terrifying, fleeting second she thought that it had all been a dream. Then, with a sigh of relief, she saw him sitting against the bottom of the couch, since Carey was currently snoring on the seat. He seemed to be staring intently at something on the floor. She sat up and scooted over to sit next to him. "'Morning, baby," she said as she kissed Rick on the cheek.

Barely looking at her, Rick said, "Good morning, honey." He quickly kissed her back, and then went back to looking at the floor.

Molly followed his gaze, and gasped. What looked like a circular portal was cut into the carpet. Inside, she could see a bunch of demons, gathered around the Protector. The smaller demons could have passed for humans, but they were covered in black so that one couldn't even see its face.

The Protector was standing at the head of a large, underground cavern, and was addressing his army. "Now is the time to act, before they can gain strength against us. However, before we can attack the Phillips family, we need to destroy the Bells. They are the sworn guardians of our enemy, and formidable opponents. Most of all, we must obliterate their leader, Irene Bell. She has power, and we must have that power in order to move on."

Suddenly, the vision became blurry, and, when Rick waved his hand over it, the portal vanished. He looked at Molly. "Irene has _a lot_ of explaining to do."

"What do you mean? You don't know what he was talking about?" Molly was confused.

"I know as much about this as you do."

"Which is absolutely nothing." Molly got up and stretched. "I'm going to get ready for the day. Do you need to use the bathroom before I go in?"

Rick smiled. "Nope. One good thing about being a ghost – you never have to go." Molly laughed as she went upstairs, but inwardly she scolded herself for forgetting he was dead.

An hour later, everyone was up, dressed, and ready for a full day of training. Ned and Irene had reluctantly gone back to their house to get a few days worth of clothing for them and Carey. When they came back, they found Molly, Jack, Fi and Carey sitting around the table, while Rick was serving breakfast, which he made. "I forgot how good your scrambled eggs were." Jack said as he ate another mouthful.

"Yeah Mr. P, excellent breakfast." Carey complimented. Having finished his already, he grabbed pants, a shirt, underwear, and his toothbrush out of the suitcase and went upstairs to change.

"Thanks boys." Rick smiled as he went back to the stove.

"I see we weren't missed." Ned sat at the island, putting down a medium-sized suitcase on the floor next to him.

"Yeah, guys, thanks for worrying about us." Irene smiled and sat on a stool next to her husband.

"I told them you went back to your house as soon as they woke up." Molly assured them.

"You two want breakfast?" Rick asked, sliding more eggs out of the frying pan and onto two plates.

"Yeah, thanks." Ned said, then asked, "Aren't you going to have any?"

"Nah. I could eat, but you don't have much of an appetite when your dead." Rick reminded him as he handed over the plates and two forks.

"Oh, right." Ned looked sheepish, as everyone laughed. "I forgot already."

"Don't worry, Ned. The same thing happened to me earlier. I asked him if he had to go to the bathroom." Molly said, bringing on more laughter. Suddenly, her face turned serious. "That reminds me. Irene, we need to ask you about something." Carey chose just that moment to come back in.

Knowing what Molly was getting at, Rick asked, "Yeah. What's this about you having power?"

The whole kitchen seemed to freeze as Ned, Carey, who had sat back down, Jack, and Fi turned to stare at Irene, who gulped nervously. "How do you know about that?"

"Let's just say, a little Spy Portal told me. Now come on Irene – 'fess up." Rick smiled, but his eyes said he was serious.

Irene sighed. "All right, all right. I guess I was going to have to tell you eventually."

Carey was deeply concerned. "Mom...?"

Everyone became quiet as Irene spoke. "It wasn't just a coincidence that I became your manager." She said, looking at Molly.

"What do you mean?" Molly asked.

"You see, my mom and your mom were witches and best friends, and still are. My mom knew that Kate was taking it rough when you decided to give up your powers, and that she was extremely worried about you. Knowing I was about the same age you are, and that I was thinking of becoming a manager, she talked with your mom, and they came up with a plan.

"I was to offer to become your manager, and at the same time, look out for you. For a while I updated Kate on how you were doing, but after some time she realized you were doing just fine on your own. She said I could quit being your manager, but by then we were best friends ourselves and I didn't want to." Irene caught her breath, then remembered something. "As for the power thing, I inherited the witch gene from my mom." She frowned at Molly's disbelieving face. "Mol, are you ok?"

Molly was furious. _How could Mom do that to me?_ She stood up, and shouted, "OK?? OK?? How can you possibly think I'm fine with this?" Suddenly, it thundered outside, and the lights flickered off and on. "First my parents disown me, and then they hire their own personal spy? No, I'm NOT ok!" With that, she stormed out of the room. Irene dashed after her into the living room.

Meanwhile, everyone was else was still in shock. "Whoa, that was intense." Fi shook her head.

"I can't believe she never told us that." Ned said, a incredulous look on his face. "My own wife..."

Rick was watching the two witches through the doorway, but everyone could hear most of the conversation. "Wow. I didn't think Molly even knew that word." After a few minutes, the intensity wore off, and everybody, with exception for Rick and Carey, continued eating. Once they were done, one by one they gathered around the door to watch.

Irene and Molly talked for about a half hour, then Rick saw Molly use the phone, presumably to call her mother. After she got off, they talked some more, and Rick saw them hug. Then, each with their arm around the other, walked back toward the kitchen. "Quick, they're coming back!" Jack whispered, and everybody ran back to their seat.

Upon entering the kitchen, Molly said. "It's alright, guys – we know you were listening the entire time. I guess I don't need to tell you that we worked everything out."

"Yeah," Irene said, breaking apart from Molly, "She now realizes that Kate only did it because she was worried about her, not so that she would know immediately if Molly screwed up." Fi, Ned, Carey, Jack and Rick breathed a sigh of relief, and the kitchen resumed it's normal light atmosphere. Irene and Molly finished their breakfasts, while the rest cleared the table.

The doorbell rang just as Fi put the last plate in the dishwasher. "I'll get it!" she called out. She ran to the door, right past the others who were just settling down in the living room. Fi squealed with delight when she saw who it was. "Clu!" She hugged him around his middle before he could get through the door.

"Easy, Fi. Don't cut off my circulation." He laughed, as he pushed Fi back into the house. "Hey everyone! I'm baaaaaaack!"

The noise level considerably increased as Clu's family and friends got up to welcome him. When Irene asked him what he was doing there, he replied, "Well, it was getting a little rough, so I decided to take a few weeks off and start the semester over again in January." Moving further into the living room, he stopped dead in his tracks. "Whoa...Mr. P?!?!"

There was general confusion on both parts as everyone tried to explain everything at once. Finally, he crossed his hands in a time-out sign. "Ok, people, time out. One at a time!" And so, Molly started what was now becoming an epic. It took quite a long time to explain everything that happened in just a brain freeze." Clu said as he held his head. "Three witches and a ghost. Can't get any weirder than that." Everyone laughed.

Suddenly, the lights went out. When they came back on, the gang found themselves surrounded by demons.

Clu gulped. "Ok...scratch that last comment."

A/N: Ooooh, cliff hanger. I promise I'll update soon. Oh, and I'm not sure if Kate is actually Molly's mother's name; if it isn't, please correct me.


	6. Bonding

Chapter 6

A/N: Ok, I checked (great tv guide site), and it said Molly's mom's name was Kathleen. So, from now on I'm going with that. Also, this might be the last chapter for a while. I start school on Thursday, and I'm going to be a Junior, so most likely I'll be busy all the time. I promise I will write when I get a chance.

**Fiona12690**: I believe I did leave it there. Muahahahah. :::grins evilly::: I did read your story ("Muse of Enchantment"), but it was a teeny bit confusing. Also, you need to put in more details. You know, how people feel, describe their actions more clearly, and all that. Other than that, great plot!P.S.: You go to school on Tuesday? Awww.

C'mon, people! I need more reviews! I sincerely hope Fiona 12690 and B Oots aren't the only ones reading this fic.

Alright, without further ado, here's Chapter 6!

The sound of Clu's voice seemed to be some kind of signal, because immediately afterwards the demons started a full-force attack. They were the exact kind Molly and Rick had seen through the Spy Portal, but at that moment all Molly cared about was fighting them off. "Does anyone know how to get rid of these things?" she asked as he kicked one in the chest. It spiraled backwards, but did not get any real damage.

"I do!" Irene called out. She put out her hands, and a demon burst into flames. "Molly, tap into my power! You're an empath, remember?" (A/N: I don't know if that's the right word for it, but, hey, it's my story!)

"I know, but I don't know if I can do it!" Molly shouted above the noise. She looked around. Ned, Carey, and Clu were doing the best they could, considering they had little or no experience in martial arts. Jack was fighting surprisingly well, and was taking on several at once. And Rick was trying to protect Fiona, which wasn't easy considering there were at least a dozen swarming around her.

"Try!" Following Irene's order, Molly retreated into the corner near the foyer and concentrated. Not knowing what to expect, she jumped out and flung her hands in front of her. Amazingly, three demons were instantly turned to dust. Molly was temporarily shocked, then got over it. "Cool," she smiled, then continued fighting.

"Mom, Irene, HELP!" Fiona's call was loud and clear.

Irene came over to help immediately, since Molly was currently dealing with more demons than she could handle. "Fi, try using your power. You probably can't do the same, but try to do _something_."

"Ok." A little unsure, Fi copied Molly and Irene's movements. Instead of being consumed by flames, the five demons immediately surrounding her turned into rattle snakes. "That's not much better!" Fi wailed.

"Alright then, concentrate on turning them into something a little less...poisonous." Irene suggested.

Fi did. The five rattlesnakes turned into five harmless butterflies. "This will work."

After about ten minutes, every single demon was either a pile of ashes, a butterfly, or simply gone. Rick, Jack, Ned, Clu and Carey quickly learned that once a demon hit the ground, it disappeared. Rick concluded that they had probably gone back to their leader.

Exhausted, everybody collapsed on the living room floor, since the furniture was in complete disarray. The couch was turned over, the TV was smashed (as well as the window), and the two easy chairs were ripped and beaten. Overall, the place was a mess.

"Those were the most tiring 30 minutes of my entire life." Carey sighed. Moans and calls of, "You can say that again" immediately followed.

Fi complained, "I can't feel my entire body." After quite a few minutes, they started to get up and clean the living room.

"Don't forget, we have to start training later." Rick said, and winced when everybody just glared at him. "I know you hurt right now guys, but this is just the beginning. In the future, there will be more demons to fight off, and they'll be much more powerful. Consider this round one."

"How many rounds are there?" Ned asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"I have no idea, but I know this definitely isn't the end."

"Hey Molly, what are you doing up?" Rick asked, coming into her room. Still tired, everyone had gone into their respective rooms (Irene and Ned took the guest room, Carey and Clu the living room) to take a well-deserved nap. It had been an hour since then, and Rick had assumed Molly was still asleep. That is, until he heard the sounds of a guitar being played coming from her room.

"Oh, I woke up a half hour ago. I've had this song in my head for a while now, and decided to get it out. Plus, it helps calm my nerves." With that, she wrote another few lines down on a piece of paper.

Rick looked at it. "It looks really good. Want to sing it?"

"Not really. There's something...missing."

"It looks done to me."

"No, not that way." Molly sighed. "Like...I don't know..."

"Like it needs to be a duet?" Rick suggested, a smile on his face.

"Exactly." Returning his smile, Molly gave him the paper, since she knew the words by heart. She started singing as she played her guitar: (A/N: I'm putting it in script form just for now so you know who is singing.)

Molly: "What are the chances, there'd be you and me/

There is no might have been, I say it's destiny."

Rick: "Out of all of the lives we could live/

All of the love we could give."

Molly: "Who'd ever guess that out of all the rest/

You would be here with me. Ohh..."

Molly and Rick: "It's a one, one, one in a million world/

And we're two, two two in a billion/

A one in a million world.

A zillion stars in the sky/

Planets all spinning by/

Take away what might have been/

And here we are again/

It's a one, one, one in a million world."

Molly couldn't stop smiling once the song was finished. It felt so good to sing with Rick again. And, judging from the smile on his face, he felt the same way.

Fiona and Jack stepped away from their parents' bedroom door, where they had been watching. Fiona couldn't get over how happy her mom looked. _She looked...she looked...in love again! _She realized with a great amount of surprise. Suddenly, she felt like breaking down in to tears. _But it's not going to last forever..._ "It's not fair, Jack," she sobbed, putting her head on his shoulder.

"What's not fair, Fi?" Jack put his arms comfortingly around her, just as only a big brother could do.

"He's going to go away again! Bringing him here was like...teasing us! We're going to get used to having him here, and then we're going to have to get over his death all over again!" Fi's words were muffled in Jack's sweatshirt, but he could hear them loud and clear.

"I know, but there's nothing we can do about it,"Jack tried to sound calm and reassuring, but in all truth, he hadn't thought about it that way. "Let's just....enjoy him while we can, you know? Make the most of it – make as many memories as we can. And look at it this way – at least this time, we get to say good-bye. We get to know that he's always going to be there for us. And who knows? Maybe we'll get to see him again."

"I guess you're right." Putting on a brave face, Fi stood up straight and wiped a tear from her eye. "Come on – I hear Clu and Carey downstairs." (A/N: Awww, a brother-sister moment. I just had to put that in here ï)

Hours later, after dinner had been cleaned up (Rick was head chef – they weren't taking any chances with Molly again), the group assembled in the living room for their first training session. Molly and Irene had used magic to fix whatever the boys couldn't, and as a result the TV and window were restored, and everything else looked like brand-new.

"Alright, I'm going to need an assistant." Rick was standing in front of the seating area, looking a lot like a teacher, which at that point, he was.

"Ooo pick me, pick me!" Jack raised his hand in a mocking gesture, bringing on much laughter.

"Alright Jack, come on up." He did, and stood next to Rick. "Alright, now let's say a demon just grabbed you around the neck, with every intent on strangling you to death." Jack put his hands around his father's neck. "What are you going to do?"

"Oh, I know this one!" Clu shouted. "You yell for Mrs. P or Mom to blow him up!" At that, everyone started laughing hysterically.

Rick sighed, trying not to lose his patience. "No, Clu,"he said good-naturedly, "You do this." He elbowed Jack in the stomach, then flipped him onto the floor. (A/N: I'm no martial arts expert here, so I'm making up moves as I go along).

"Yeah, but then you do this." Surprising everyone, including himself, Jack put his feet up to Rick's stomach, and he flipped over frontward, landing face-up next to Jack.

"Whoa, nice one Jack." Carey complimented. "Where'd you learn that?"

Extremely confused, Jack sighed, "I have no idea."

"I might have some idea." Rick got up, and offered his hand to an aching Jack, who pulled himself up after accepting help.

"More news? How many surprises are we supposed to take in a few days?" Ned exclaimed.

Rick laughed. "I think this is it. Jack, have you ever heard of reincarnation?"

Jack thought a moment. "Yeah, Fi's mentioned it somewhere along the line. I think she thought our old cat used to be a princess."

"Jack! I was _five_!" Fi protested, her face coloring as everyone laughed. "And she did act like one!"

"Yeah, but you didn't stop there. You said she used to be Ariel, Princess of Larconia, and that she was reborn as a cat because she was mean to animals."

Everyone looked to Molly for confirmation, and she shrugged, "Fi's always had an..._active_ imagination."

"Actually, Fi might have been right. Reincarnation does exist. And, back to my point, Jack, in a past life, you were a knight."

A/N: Thanks to **Jlyfishluver **for the reincarnated knight idea!

More A/N: The song 'One in a Million" is from the episode 'Detention'. Think about it – that was the first episode after 'Lightening Rod', so she should be writing it right about now. Just imagine it without the flute, and put Rick in where Annie would be singing. I just had to put it in there since it's one of my favorite So Weird songs. By the way, I got the lyrics from , that and watching the episode a lot.


	7. And Action!

Chapter 7

A/N: Hi, I'm back! I am soooooo incredibly sorry I haven't updated in a while. It's just that school has been so hectic, and it's only been in session for nine days! Also, my Internet is acting all wacky, so even when this was finished, it was hard getting it up. Anyway, I hope this chapter was worth waiting for.

"A _knight_? You've got to be kidding." Carey said, glancing at Jack. For some reason, he couldn't picture the smaller boy as a valiant knight in shining armor.

"I swear I'm not. Jack, don't you sometimes have memories of it? Most reincarnated people do."

"What? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, and I live with _her_." Jack said, pointing to Fiona. Before he could add anything else, his vision became foggy, and all traces of the Philips's living room faded.

_He was standing in a rather large, stone-walled foyer, with windows on either side. His wife, Odette, was sitting in a chair next to the window, and nervously staring at her husband. "Charles, you have to."_

_"I know, but I wish I didn't. Little Amelia will miss me terribly." He paced back and forth, keeping his arms crossed at his chest. He had just been summoned to the chamber of Lord Valiud, who had informed him that they were going to war with a nearby Lord, and that Charles was to be head of the soon-to-be gathered army. _

_"Yes, she will, and I will too. But it is your duty. She will grow to respect you more for going into battle than staying with her." She got up and went over to Charles. Odette then stopped his pacing and kissed him. "As will I." _

_"You're right, as usual. We still have a few weeks to prepare, but I feel as if I am already gone." He kissed her back. "And I shall come back after the battle. I am sure of it." _

The scene became blurry, and once again Jack was looking into the faces of his current family. However, he was deeply saddened. _I never came back_, he thought gloomily. A few weeks into battle, he was literally stabbed in the back by a traitor while removing his metal armor. In the few seconds since he had regained consciousness, the memories of Charles Waldom immediately became his own.

"You were saying?" Fi smirked, knowing what her brother had just saw.

"Alright, so it's not so ridiculous." Jack rubbed his eyes and sat up. He found that he was on the couch, while before he had been standing, and was surrounded by everyone.

"Dude, what happened?" Clu asked.

"It was weird. It was, like, a memory or something. I was in a foyer, and talking to Odette – "

"Who is...?" Carey inquired.

"My wife. Or should I say, Charles' wife. Anyway..." Jack went on to describe the whole vision. "She said I had a daughter named Amelia. The strange thing is, I remember what she looked like, how old she was, which by the way was five, and just, everything about Sir Waldom's life."

"That's not surprising. When people realize they had a past life, they remember everything about their former self. Which actually makes sense, in a way. I mean, they _are_ your memories, technically." Rick hated talking about this kind of thing – it always made him very confused. Along with time travel, but he usually avoided that unless absolutely necessary.

Everybody just stared at him for a second. Then, Molly stood up and stretched. "I think fighting demons, defense training, and learning about reincarnation is enough for one day. I'm going to bed. I think we're all comfortable in sleeping in separate rooms by now?" They all agreed, but Irene and Ned decided their family should still stay with the Philips'. An hour later they were sleeping, somewhat uneasily, in their beds.

A week went by, but it was mostly spent training and fending off demons. Molly had gained full mastership of her powers, and found them to be stronger than ever before. Meanwhile, Irene was helping Fi, who discovered that she could not only shape-shift others, but herself as well. Also, as an added bonus, she found that she could heal, after a nasty incident involving Clu and a broken window. Rick and Jack, who realized he had been an expert fighter, taught Molly, Irene, Fi, Ned, Clu, and Carey the art of self-defense. However, that was easily learned after several demon encounters, which had at one point occurred three days straight. Needless to say, by Saturday, all were exhausted.

"I'm sick of this!" Fi exclaimed suddenly. They were just clearing the table after having a gourmet lunch (after a hard morning spent working), made by Rick.

"What, food that's not take out?" Jack guessed, earning a playful smack on the head from his mother. "What did I say?"

"No, just..._this_." Fi spread her arms out. "Everything – the fighting, the training...I haven't updated my website in weeks!"

"So _that's_ it. You're suffering from computer-withdrawal. I was wondering why you've been stressed lately." Carey teased.

Irene intercepted before a fight could erupt. "No, Fi's right. We've all been a little overworked lately, and I say we have a night off." They all looked at Rick for the okay.

He hesitated. "Alright, alright. We're ahead of schedule, and I guess one night wouldn't hurt." As everyone cheered, Rick couldn't help but think he would regret those words.

Hours later, Irene and Molly had gone on a well-deserved shopping spree, and the kids had gone out to who-knows-where. Ned and Rick had opted to stay home to spend some quality time together. And since then, the two had not stopped talking. They had been best friends when Rick was alive, and some things never changed. As of now, they were sitting on the back porch, talking about old times and both of their experiences after Rick had died.

Which was really very interesting for Ned. He was actually kind of curious about what happens after you die. "Rick, there's something I've wanted to ask you, and forgive me if it's a little blunt. What's it like to...you know..."

He didn't need to finish his question. Rick hesitated for a moment. "I'm not going to lie to you – it hurts. Ok, the way I went doesn't seem very painful, but it was. My soul was ripped out of my body. You remember when your arm came out of its socket when we were all on tour? Imagine that, then spread it out to every part of your body."

Ned visibly winced. "Ouch. Sorry I asked."

"No, it's alright. It's actually a little bit of a relief to be able to talk someone about this. Someone alive, that is – you try to talk to another ghost about it, and they'll try to top it with the story about how they died." At Ned's laugh, he couldn't help smiling himself. "But, man, that feeling you get after it's all over makes it all worth it. Any pain you might have had, any scar, any bad feeling, just goes right out the window. You feel better than you ever have in your entire life." He paused, then added, "It's just an expression."

"I figured as much. Anyway, why are you still here? Shouldn't you be, you know, in the great beyond?"

"Well, most people do. But you know about ghosts right? They stay on or close to Earth because they have unfinished business. I'm sure Fiona's had to have talked about it at some point or another."

"You can say that again." Ned recalled quite a few times where Fiona's shouted that she's seen a ghost or a troll or something supernatural. Now he realized she was probably right.

"In fact, she's part of why I'm still here. My one goal in my life had been to keep my family safe from whatever monsters I discovered. Now it's pretty obvious that I not only failed them, but I caused them to be in more trouble." Rick hung his head, being on the verge of tears. True, he was a ghost, but he could still feel and have emotion. "I should have listened to Molly. I should have quit while I was ahead. If I had, the Protector wouldn't be after them and we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Now you know that's not true. If you hadn't come along, Fiona probably would have gotten herself into even bigger trouble. And you said so yourself – Fi and Molly have power. Some demon or other would have come after them eventually." He patted Rick on the back, then said, "We better go inside. It's getting late. I wonder why at least the girls aren't back yet?"

"They're probably having fun. It's been a hectic few days; they need some down time. And for a woman, there's no better way to spend it than shop." Rick and Ned laughed as they turned to go inside. However, before they could reach the handle, a demon appeared, blocking the entrance. This one was different though – he carried a rather sharp looking blade.

(Annnnnd, stop right there. End of chapter everybody. Good-bye for another two weeks! He he, just kidding. You didn't think I'd do that to you again, did you?)

Molly jerked her head up from the dress she had been glancing at. She could looked no other place than straight ahead, and her eyes were glossed over. Irene, who was standing right next to her, noticed immediately. Waving her hand in front of her friend's face, Irene frantically, but quietly, repeated Molly's name over and over.

Still, Molly couldn't have heard her. She was having her first psychic vision since her powers came back, and she knew all she could do was sit back and watch.

_She recognized the scene instantly; it was their backyard at night time. Demons were all over the place, and although their clothes were black, she could keep track of them because of their shiny daggers. Rick was fighting them off one by one, but there looked like he wouldn't be able to keep them all at bay for long. Suddenly, there was a bright, fiery blast, and every demon was turned to ash. He looked relieved for a moment, but then glanced around frantically. His face turned to one of horror, then ran off shouting Ned's name. _

The picture faded as quickly as it had come. Molly opened her eyes, and Irene was clearly taken aback by the look of shock on her face. "Mol, what happened?"

"We have to go. Now." Using the same tone that she sometimes used with Fiona and Jack, Molly grabbed Irene's arm and proceeded to drag her to the nearest exit. In the process, she had managed to drop everything she and her severely confused friend were carrying, including things they had already bought. So among the cries of, "Miss, you dropped your bags!", the two practically flew out of the store.

Once outside, though, Irene yanked her arm out of Molly's grasp. "Before we go one step further, I demand to know what's going on!" Exasperated and out of breath, the singer gave a condensed version of what she saw in her premonition. When she was done, Irene exclaimed, "Then what are we doing just standing around here for? We need to drive, no, _fly_ there right now!"

Molly sighed and grabbed Irene's hand. Before they could transport themselves out, however, the alleyway the nearest exit had led to was covered in shadow. Demons had appeared in every nook and cranny. More annoyed than scared, Molly held her hands up and prepared to blast them up to high Heaven, or rather, low hell. "This is _not_ what I need right now!"

Meanwhile, Molly's vision was well on its way to coming true. Rick and Ned were using their best karate moves on the black warriors. Yet, their efforts were producing little results. These demons were much more prepared than the others had been, and the two were quickly finding out that it took more than a few blows to the head to get them to disappear.

Rick was doing his best to fend them off, but even when he did manage to make one go away, two more would take its place. It seemed like Ned and he were in a sea of black. _Where is Ned, anyway?_ Rick thought anxiously for a second. He then tried to calm himself down. _He's probably fine. Besides, there's no way I can get to him._

All of a sudden, he felt a warm glow come from behind him, then pass him over. The next thing he knew, fire had consumed every last demon. He heaved a great sigh of relief and turned around. Sure enough, there were Molly and Irene, their hands frozen in front of them after blasting the spirits to pieces. Just then, he heard a groan come from the porch, he screamed "Ned!", then ran over. There was a dagger stabbed in Ned's chest, and blood all around it.

A/N: I know, a little gory. I am changing the rating the PG, but I swear this is the worst, blood wise, that it's going to get. I promise! I mean, I might mention that someone is hurt, but I won't describe it that much. Anyway, I'll try to update soon!

Just an afterthought. This was a really weird chapter – death and premonitions and demon attacks, sheesh. Ah, well, weird is good.


	8. Missing

Chapter 8

"Jack, we have to go home, now!" Fi practically shouted. They were at a new teen club that had just opened in town, but for some reason she did not feel like partying. For the past hour, she had an unsettling feeling in her gut, like something was horribly wrong. She tried to fight it down, especially since that cute guy across the dance floor kept looking at her, but to no avail.

Unfortunately, her brother did not sense the urgency. "Fi, what's the matter? Did Mom call your cell?"

Realizing she had forgotten that she had her new cell phone with her, a present from Mom for her 16th birthday, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Jack!" Desperately digging through her bag for the small silvery object, she found it. But to her disappointment, the battery wasn't charged. "Never mind. We gotta go now!!!"

"Whoa Fi, slow down and tell us why you have this sudden case of homesickness." Carey put both hands on her shoulders to keep Fi from bolting out the door.

"I don't know _why_. For some reason I just know we need to go home!" Fi had to yell to be heard clearly over the noise of the club.

"Alright, if it means that much to you, we'll go. But if it turns out everything is fine, I am not letting you get away with it." Jack turned around and pulled Clu's sleeve, "Clu, we have to go. Family emergency," he explained hastily when he saw that Clu was talking to a very attractive girl. It would have been awkward to have to explain that his sister was a witch with a certain degree of ESP and had a feeling that they needed to leave.

"It's alright. See you around, Clu." The girl smiled sweetly and took a sip of her drink.

Unfortunately, Clu wasn't as forgiving. "Dude! I was just about to get her number!"

"Well, tell it to Fi. She has a very extreme 'feeling' that we all need to go home. And, given the events of this past week, I'm inclined to believe her." Reaching the others, all four teens pushed past the massive crowd and headed for the bus stop.

"Great, just great. The bus doesn't come for another half hour, and it will probably take that long to get home!" Carey whined.

"Then I guess we'll just have to sit here and freeze our butts off until the next one comes." Knowing 50 degrees was the average temperature for nights in October didn't make Jack feel any better.

"Actually, maybe we don't. Fi, how's your shape-shifting power coming along?" Clu asked suggestively.

Fi shook her head. "No, no way. I mean, I could probably do it, but I always feel exhausted a few hours afterwards."

"But you have to." Carey begged. "If this danger is as big as you say it is, shouldn't we do everything to get home faster?" Carey actually just wanted to not have to wait for an hour to get home, but he knew the spiritual aspect would appeal to Fi.

It worked. Fi sighed, "Alright. Let me concentrate." She closed her eyes, and the first animal with wings that popped into her head was an eagle. When she opened her eyelids, she was looking at three majestic eagles, otherwise known as Jack, Clu, and Carey. She looked down, and sure enough her feet were bird's feet, and she was covered in feathers.

"An eagle, Fi? Could you have _been_ anymore subtle?" Jack teased.

"It was either that or a pigeon," she shot back. Spreading her wings, Fi flapped and was soon airborne. She could hear the boys' wings following behind her. Flying was the absolute _best_, she decided, and she would definitely do it more often. There was nothing holding you down, and it was amazing.

Unfortunately, the ride only lasted a few minutes before the four teens-turned-eagles landed in the Philips' backyard. Fi quickly turned them, and herself, back into their normal form. She didn't pause for a second before dashing into the living room. Jack, Clu, and Carey, after getting over their initial shock of flying, ran after her.

What greeted them was chaos. After Irene checked to see if Ned was still breathing, which he was, Molly had levitated him onto the living room couch. Irene had magically removed the dagger, since doing so physically would have done more damage. Rick was now trying to stop the bleeding.

"I don't see why we can't take him to the hospital." Irene cried.

Rick sighed. "And tell them what? That he was stabbed by a demon?"

"DAD!" Carey screamed, running immediately to his father's side, and was followed instantly by Clu.

Ned's eyes were closed, and he was barely breathing. Rick said that the only reason he had not been killed instantly was because Ned had actually been stabbed a few inches below the heart. Although if he wasn't helped soon, he would die of blood loss.

During this whole time Irene had been trying hard to put on a brave face. This was becoming increasingly harder to do, since tears would escape every few minutes or so. She _couldn't_ lose her husband. Irene distinctly remembered what Molly when through when Rick died. She knew she wouldn't be able to survive without Ned. He was what kept her going when she was stressed over work, the boys, or just anything that bothered her that moment. And if Ned died, he would be gone for good – she highly doubted that he would come back to visit in 13 years. Suddenly she realized something, "Fi, heal him! _Please_!!"

Noting Irene's desperation, Fi ignored the fact that she was extremely tired after her flight. "Alright, I'll try. But I don't know how much I'll be able to do right now." She explained quickly how she and the boys had gotten home. When she finished, she silently put her hands over Ned's injury. They emitted a soft blue light, and the wound was immediately patched itself up and the blood around it was washed away. However, there was still a big, visible scar that would probably never fade. Exhausted and relieved, Fi fainted on the carpet.

"Fiona!" Molly screamed, and was instantly at her daughter's side. Meanwhile, Ned had slowly opened his eyes and looked around at his chaotic surroundings. "Did I miss something?"

"Thank God!" Irene hugged her husband the tightest she could, and there was no telling when she would let go. He let her, even though it was really hurting his scar.

Fi woke up with a start. _What happened?_ she thought groggily The last thing she remembered was running into the living room after coming home from the club. Now, she was in her bed, carefully tucked in, and the lights were out. However, the afternoon sun was shining brightly through the bedroom window. She glanced quickly at the digital clock beside her bed. _2:30 p.m.!_ Fi thought disbelievingly. _How...what..._

Then the memories came coming back to her. Ned had been hurt, she healed him, then fainted. _That must be why I'm wiped out. I guess I've learned my lesson – never use too much power at once._ Fi sat still for a second. _That's strange..._ The house was eerily quiet, especially since there's been non-stop noise ever since the Bells started sleeping over. Curious to see what was going on, she pulled her legs over the side of the bed and slowly stood up. Realizing she was wearing the uncomfortable outfit she had worn to the club, Fi hastily changed her clothes and went into the kitchen.

"Hey everybody..." Fi's greeting faltered as she realized her mom and dad were the only ones in the kitchen.

"Hey baby." Molly came over and hugged her daughter. "I'm so glad you're up – we were getting worried about you."

"Yeah, even I didn't think your powers would make you that exhausted." Rick kissed Fi on the forehead. "Want some, lunch, er, breakfast? I can heat up some pancakes."

"Thanks, that'd be great." Fi sat on the island and accepted some orange juice her mom offered her. "Where is everybody?"

Molly sat on the stool next to her. "Well, Irene decided that her family should, according to her, 'finally' go home since Ned needed to rest. Jack went with them to hang out with Clu and Carey, since nothing was going on here. I guess after all the excitement we've had in the past few days doing nothing would drive him insane."

Fi nodded as she took a bite of her pancakes. They were amazing, as were everything else her dad had made over the past week or so. The whole time she ate, Fi couldn't get over how weird, yet incredibly normal, this situation was. Her mom and dad were talking and laughing as if Rick had never left. If someone had told her about all of this a couple of moths ago, she never would have believed them. It was so unreal – for the past two years, she had been searching for contact with her father. Now, he was here, making her pancakes. It just seemed like an alternate universe.

Yet the peace and quiet didn't last for long. Just as Fi was scooping up the last bits of pancake and syrup, Jack burst through the kitchen door. He looked tired and sweaty, like he had run a few miles. His breath was jagged, and he leaned against the door to steady himself. "Carey...demons...missing..."

Rick went over and held Jack up. "Son, what happened?"

Jack took several deep breaths and put an arm around his father for support. "Carey was kidnapped."

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, and I'll try to update soon!


	9. The Saga Continues

A/N: I'm not dead! Yes, I am still here! I did not abandon this story, and I swear I never will. I'm SO incredibly sorry it's been more than a month. It's just that to workload I've been getting from school is ridiculous. Also, I've been writing other stories, including my Full House stories (I know, I know, people who like So Weird probably aren't going to be interested in a mushy sitcom. I just thought you would like to know since that, well, you obviously like my writing, you might want to see more of it. Just a thought). To make up for my extremely long and inexcusable absence, I have made this chapter longer than usual.

Thanks to all my faithful reviewers, and to my new ones!

CuteLittleBritt: I know I may not be historically accurate, but I did not mean karate in the modern sense. I meant, like, hand-to-hand combat. Also, in Irene's (and Molly's) case, the witch gene is only matriarchal (meaning only in women…but you already knew that). I'm just putting that here instead of in the story because, well, I'm lazy. That's why.

Fiona12690: He he, glad you like it. But Carey and Fi will not be getting together – I mentioned in the first chapter that this is a strictly NON-ROMANTIC story.

Also thanks to Ms.Manning331, JlyfishLuver, and, well, everyone else!

I highly suggest re-reading the last chapter and parts of the story that you don't remember clearly, seeing as I haven't updated in a while.

Chapter 9

"Kidnapped? Are you sure?" Fi asked, the news not quite sunken in yet.

"Positive." Jack stated firmly, well, as firmly as he could after that run. Come to think of it, it probably would have been easier just to call rather than frantically run the eight miles to his house. _I guess that's what happens under stress – the "act now, think later" gear kicks in. Ah, well, it's probably better to be doing something than standing around in shock while Irene, Ned, and Clu try to figure out what to do next._ Realizing Fi was waiting for an explanation, Jack added, "His room could have been declared a national disaster area. The comforter was twisted and torn, the garbage pail was turned over and its contents scattered across the floor, and it looked like everything he owned was either knocked over or smashed into pieces." Exhausted, Jack slid into the circular booth.

"Poor Carey. I hope he's not in too much pain. Or dead." Fi mumbled that last part as she sat down next to Jack. She looked at her parents. Their faces were expressionless, but Fi knew they were just as torn up about this as she and her brother were. Fi also knew that they were trying to stay calm and think of a course of action.

Rick held his head in his hand, then asked, "Jack, there must have been a lot of noise when Carey's room was being ripped apart. Wouldn't Irene, Ned, or Clu have heard it and come running?"

"That's what's so weird. Neither of them heard a single sound throughout the night. When I got there at around nine, Irene assumed he was still sleeping since he hadn't come downstairs. Then, when she went to check on him at eleven, she saw Carey's door open and his room destroyed."

"They probably didn't hear anything because whoever, or whatever, attacked him must have been protected by a well-cast sound-proofing spell." Rick concluded.

Molly thought aloud, "Then it must have been those demons we've been fighting for the past few weeks. I don't think we have many other current magical enemies."

Rick nodded. "I think that would be a safe bet. Let's go over to check out the scene of the crime…and see how Ned and Irene are holding up."

When they arrived at the Bell's home, they found its inhabitants in Carey's room, which was still in the exact same shape as Jack had described it. Irene was sitting on her son's bed and quietly sobbing into Ned's shoulder, and he himself was holding back tears. Clu was aimlessly wandering around, as if in some kind of trance.

Fi walked over to Clu and hugged him. "It's going to be okay. We'll find him."

"How can you say that?" Clu angrily kicked the wall. "Look around, Fi! At this point there's probably nothing left to find!"

"Hey, Clu, calm down. Shouting won't solve anything." Jack held Clu back from kicking a hole in the wall.

After sitting down and putting a comforting arm around Irene's shoulders. Jack was right – the room looked like a tornado went through it. Suddenly, he noticed Molly. She seemed to be intently staring at something on the floor. "Molly, what are you looking at?"

"I'm not sure." Everyone came over to look. It was a small pool of thick liquid, and was a bold, green color. What worried Molly most was that it had some kind of eerie glow. "What…is it?"

"Demon blood." Rick answered automatically. When everybody stared at him, he explained, "I've seen it before - many times. Whatever you do, don't touch it. It kills mortals instantly. However, Molly, Irene, and Fi are safe – witches are immune to its effects."

"In that case…" Molly reached out her hand and touched it. The substance was smooth, like if silk was liquid. She rubbed some on her fingertips, then froze.

_The forest was pitch black. She could barely see anything except a black-clad figure moving through the trees. The only reason she could see him was because his arm was cut, and green blood was oozing out of his shoulder._

_He continued on through the forest until he reached a clearing. The demon then went over to an unusually large tree on the edge of it and stretched out his palm. A purple glow shot out, and eight strange symbols appeared in two columns on the trunk. _

_The demon pressed each symbol, as if it was some kind of code or pattern, and the entire tree glowed purple. Then he stepped through the tree and disappeared. _

When the vision faded, Molly declared, "I know where Carey was taken."

"You do? How…where…?" Irene demanded, her hope returning.

Quickly Molly explained her vision. "The only problem is that I don't know where to find the clearing."

Jack thought for a second. "I do. Clu and I used to take our bikes through there all the time. It's only a few miles from our house."

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Fi turned around. Clu was already halfway out the door.

"Are we there yet?" Fi moaned. Irene had transported all of them close to the clearing, but she hadn't been able to get them to the exact spot since they didn't know where it was. As a result, they had been walking around the woods for about an hour now.

"For the zillionth time, Fi, I don't know." Jack snapped. He was frustrated – he should have known where the clearing was. But he and Clu hadn't been through this part of the forest in a while, and his memory was failing him.

Fi immediately felt bad about complaining, so she offered to help. "I could turn myself into an eagle again. Then maybe I could spot the clearing from over head.

"Good idea Fi, but you shouldn't use your magic. You'll need all of your strength to fight off those demons," Rick warned.

Hey, what's that light over there?" Ned pointed to his left.

Clu stood next to his dad and gazed in the direction he was pointing. "It looks like a ball of light or something…"

Molly glanced at Fi in surprise, "It couldn't be…could it?"

The "ball of light", as Clu so accurately described, zipped through the trees and reached the group. "Thought you could use a wee bit o' help."

"What are you doing here Bricriu?" Fi demanded.

"I'm hurt, Little Duck. Aren't you glad to see me?"

"That answer would depend on why you're here."

Clu glanced from Fi, to Bricriu, then back to Fi. "What did I miss?"

Irene raised an eyebrow, "Fi, you know an evil spirit who takes over innocent humans?"

Rick crossed his arms and glared at the spunkie, "Yeah, the last few spunkies that I've come across have been malicious and devious."

As Fi explained her past encounters with Bricriu, Jack looked at Clu and asked, "Ever get the feeling that you don't belong?"

Clu nodded. "All the time, dude."

­­­­­­­­­­

"You know, Bricriu, I've been wondering about something." Molly asked as she narrowly avoided twisting her ankle on a tree root. "You never told us why you busted into Fi's room a few weeks ago."

"I thought it was obvious. I originally wanted to warn Fi about the Protector and his minions. Only after I 'busted in', I sensed that Rick was coming and figured he would do it for me. We spunkies have a way of knowing when a human, or anyone else, enters or leaves their surrounding area."

"I've been thinking about something too." Fi said. Like Molly, something had been in the back of her mind since that fateful night. "Mom, when Bricriu came through the window, he said he knew you."

"Well, Little Duck, I'll leave it up to yer mum to tell ye about something that _wasn't me fault!_"

Molly stopped short and looked at Bricriu. "Yes, it was your fault. If you hadn't come in the first place – "

"It wasn't me fault!"

"Yes it was!"

"No it wasn't!"

"It was too!"

"It was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

Irene stepped in before Molly could come back with another "Was too!" "Will you two five-year-olds please tell us what happened?"

Molly crossed her arms and glared at the spunkie. "Fine. I will."

"No ye won't. I will."

"I will!"

"I will!"

Irene rolled her eyes and held up her hands in a time out sign. "Molly, why don't you start, and, Bricriu, you can correct her if need be." She hastily added that last part before the temperamental spunkie could protest.

"Alright." Molly sat on a stump, and Bricriu hovered nearby. Irene, Ned, and Rick sat on a log lying on its side. Jack, Clu, and a disgusted Fi sat on the wet, muddy grass.

"Well, it all started when Bricriu took over Rick's body – "

Looking very confused, Rick cut in. "Wait a minute. I don't remember that."

"And ye shouldn't. Humans don't remember when one of our kind takes them over."

Molly continued. "Anyway, this was before I had cast that memory spell, so from my education I knew Rick was possessed. Naturally I was upset and tried to figure out what the spunkie's name was. Since his came could have been anything seven letters long, it was giving me a very hard time."

Bricriu jumped in, knowing it wouldn't do him justice if Molly told the rest of the story. "I could see she was havin' a rough time of it, so I broke down and the lass why I needed to stay. The only reason I possessed Rick was to protect him and Molly."

"Now where does that sound familiar?" Fi murmured under her breath. She distinctly remembered when the spunkie had taken over her mom's body. He had said that he wanted to help her, but would up causing her even more trouble. From the way this story sounded, Fi had a feeling that her mom had a similar experience.

"See, this was after Rick had his run-in with the Protector, and I knew that could bring him more trouble later on. So, knowing a spunkie could do more than a mere mortal could do to protect himself, I possessed him."

"That doesn't sound so bad. What happened?" Jack was eager to learn about what had made his mom argue like a little kid. Then he remembered when Fi's laptop successfully predicted that his mom would call a malevolent critic a "big, fat liar." _Maybe that's just how she is._

Molly answered, "Well, Bricriu just being with us was a big problem. Before he showed up, the Protector had absolutely no idea where Rick and I were living. He couldn't track my magic because of a shield spell that I was able to cast. But my shield didn't cover other magical creatures, so, when Bricriu came, he found us in less than two days."

"Look, Molly, I swear I didn't know he could find me!"

"And that's supposed to make me feel better? We almost got killed!" Molly exclaimed, then turned toward the others. "A few days after Bricriu arrived, the Protector attacked. Now, this was quite a few years ago, so he didn't have his demon-servants. He himself came and immediately started to try and rip us to shreds. Bricriu, being the chicken that he is, deserted Rick's body as soon as the Protector came through the door."

Everyone glared at the cowardly spunkie, who's only defense was, "It's not me fault! It's a spunkie's top priority to look after himself."

"Yeah, no kidding." Fi commented, again flashing back to the time he spent in Molly's body. When they were trapped in a burning warehouse, Bricriu had fled as soon as he realized that he was in danger. They would have been toast had it not been for the retired firefighter who happened to be there. _It's really amazing how similar me and Mom's experiences are. _

"So, I was left with a barely conscious, and fairly useless, mortal and a giant, powerful demon." Molly thought for a second, then added, "No offense, Rick."

"None taken."

"Luckily, I had my spell book with me and was able to hit him with a considerably powerful attack spell. It was enough to drive him away for a while, but not destroy him completely. Obviously." Molly hesitated, then looked at Rick, "That's why I now blame myself for your death. If I hadn't seriously wounded him, he wouldn't have been mad enough to kill you years later."

Rick went over and crouched down next to Molly. "We've all had our fair share of self-loathing lately. I know I have. But you have to realize that blaming each other and ourselves won't do any good." Molly meekly nodded, wiped away some fresh tears, and put her head on his shoulder.

After several moments of silence, Fi asked, "Mom, that spell book you mentioned…by any chance…was it the one I have now?"

Molly lifted her head. "Yes, it is. Although I'm not quite sure how you got it."

"Hold on…that was _your_ spell book?" Rick asked, shocked. "I had no idea…I found it while going through an old trunk. I didn't want you to see it, since at that time you had recently expressed your feelings against my 'hobby.' So, when we went to visit Melinda, I gave it to her for safekeeping. She loved it – she figured she could use it in one of her plays."

Fi filled in the last part for Molly, "And then Aunt Melinda gave it to me when we visited her theater group." She then explained how she accidentally used it to conjure up a dragon.

Clu had been listening intently to their conversation, but was now starting to get antsy. _We've been sitting here for too long. We need to find Carey. It might already be too late._ "Guys, it's getting dark. We should continue looking."

"You're right, son." Ned stood up and stretched. He winced – his scar still hurt a little. "We should get going." He could tell his son was overly anxious to find Carey. Truthfully, so was he. However, even though she didn't show it, Ned could tell that Irene was the most restless of all. And he could definitely understand that. Between him having been stabbed and Carey missing, it was a wonder that she wasn't breaking down into sobs every five minutes.

The group silently got up and started walking. They weren't exactly sure where they were going, but they kept wandering long enough, they would find the clearing. And, hopefully, Carey.

A/N: And the saga continues! Unsurprisingly, Molly has more than a _few_ stories to share. Bricriu rejoins the group, but only after further proving that he is unreliable and selfish.

Next Chapter: The group breaks into to the Protector's secret lair. But will Carey be there? And will they all make it out safely, or will some be left behind?


	10. Coming to the Rescue

A/N: Is it just me, or are updates getting fewer and farther between (Not just with me, the entire category is dead. Not a single So Weird story has been updated recently)? I'm so sorry about this, but at the rate school is going expect an update once or twice a month until the end. Actually, I have the chapter after this written (almost), so that rule will be in effect after chapter 11. If any of this makes sense, explain it to me.

Oh, and for those who are curious, there should be about…I dunno…if this is chapter 10…maybe five chapters left plus the epilogue? The point being that this is far from over. By the way, I haven't seen So Weird (except for the three Fi episodes I taped) in, like, years, so right now I'm struggling to stay in character. Bear with me.

Fiona12690: _sighs_ Alright, fine, I'll do it. From now on, the parts with the little star thingies () before and after them were written especially for you. Thanks for staying with the story, though!

B Oots: Lol, glad you liked it. I was trying to figure out some way to link Molly and Bricriu's pasts, and I came up with that.

Jessica: Hey, great to see you again  I'm glad you kept up with the updates, and I'll try to write more often (famous lasts words…).

It looks like I lost some people. _looks around the review board_ I know you might be reading, but please review after every chapter to tell me how I can make my writing better!

Last Chapter: The gang has been walking around the woods trying to find Carey for an extremely long time when, out of the blue, Bricriu comes along. He and Molly start arguing, and eventually reveal a story about both their pasts and another reason why the Protector is after the Philips'.

Chapter 10

After about twenty minutes went by, Irene, who was leading the group (who had filed into a straight line after the woods began to get dense), stopped short. As a result, Molly bumped into her, who was bumped by Clu, who was bumped by Carey, and so on and so forth. Jack called, from the back of the line, "Why'd we stop?"

Irene shushed him, then listened. She whispered, "Something's on the other side of those trees."

"I'll go check." Molly crept up to the row of trees and peered through. It was the demon she had seen in her vision. He even had the cut on his shoulder. She motioned for the others to come over and look.

"I say we roast him." Irene suggested. _Anyone_ who hurt her baby deserved to be tortured and burnt to a crisp.

"No, Irene. We have to follow him. He knows where Carey is." Rick put his hand on Irene's already outstretched arm.

Irene compromised, "Ok then. He leads us to Carey, _then_ we roast him."

Fi sighed, then softly exclaimed, "I have a better idea. Bricriu, when you possessed Jack, you had access to all of his memories. Well, if you took over the demon's body, we could follow him, er, you, to the Protector's hideout without worrying about being caught."

"And, as an added bonus, we can find out anything he knows about his leader." Rick became quiet, then whispered, "Get ready, Bricriu, here he comes. Oh, and remember everybody, don't say Bricriu's name while he's in the demon's body. We don't want him to go away."

Everybody kneeled down behind the trees, some of them holding their breath for fear that the demon would hear them. Bricriu zipped among the forest after him, who was obviously hurting. The demon was gripping his right shoulder with his other hand, but he still moved swiftly and soundlessly. Bricriu tried not to laugh – _This is going to be ridiculously easy._ Possessing someone was always easier when the victim was at their weakest.

The spunkie flew over so that the demon was eye to, well, body with him. As the hooded figure stared, as if in a trance, at the spirit, Bricriu shivered. There was no face. It was a black, seemingly bottomless pit. Resisting the strong urge to fly away, he took a deep breath and plunged in.

_This body is colder than Ireland in winter,_ Bricriu thought. It felt like he was locked in a subzero freezer. It was also pitch black. He couldn't even be sure if he was facing forwards or backwards. _Well, what did you expect in a heartless demon?_ Bricriu meant that literally – he couldn't find a heart anywhere. Another thing he noticed was that he couldn't feel the cut. That wasn't surprising. Spunkies usually healed their victims, but only so that they don't have to feel the pain.

The "demon" shook his head to clear it, then turned back towards the others. He motioned with his arm and called, "Come, this way."

Fi and her companions looked up in surprise. Whatever they had expected him to sound like, it certainly wasn't this. It was deep, menacing, hallow – like the slow beating of a drum. The effect was lightened, however, by the trace of Irish accent. Naturally, no one wanted to answer him, for fear of causing him to speak again. However, Jack remembered their previous plan and asked nervously, "So, is there anything new you can tell us about the Protector?"

While everyone gave him murderous glares, the demon didn't even turn his head as he answered, "Nothing you should know." Nobody dared to question him.

"Finally," Clu muttered to himself. The previous hour had been spent traveling in tense silence until just now had reached the area they had been trying to find since this morning Each member of their small tribe had been lost in his or her own thoughts and barely noticed that they had been moving at all. He himself was unusually restless, worried incessantly about his older brother.

Clu hated not knowing what was happening to him. He had immediately resolved that Carey was hurt – there was no doubt in his mind, especially after how trashed Carey's room had been. Now the question was, how hurt was he? Was Carey bring tortured? Had he given up hope? Could the impossible have happened – was he dead?

From the look on his mother's face, Clu could tell that she was asking herself those exact same questions. All day long Irene had been trying to keep her emotions in check, but Clu knew that given the opportunity, she would be bawling her eyes out. But she never let her tears fall. Instead, every once in a while she would hold Ned's hand and lean against his chest as they walked, or put a comforting arm around her youngest son.

_Fi's taking this especially hard,_ Clu thought suddenly. He had always sensed a spark between her and Carey, and now it was clear that that spark was getting as big as lightning itself. He knew that Fi was wrestling with her feelings, and had even indirectly asked Clu about them a few times. Truthfully, he had been a little disappointed when he found out she wasn't crushing on _him_, since for the longest time Fi was the object of _his_ affections. But all of those feelings had disappeared, even more so when he understood how much Carey loved Fi too. When they finally did realize that they were made for each other, they would have his blessings.

"Finally," Clu whispered again, this time with more feeling. It had been a long day for everyone, and he was eager to get this nightmare over with.

Molly gasped in awe as she looked around the cavernous clearing. The leaves of the wide oak trees formed a kind of ceiling over the enormous grassy area, creating a dark shadow. That shadow alone was enough to make her want to run home to her bed and hide under the covers. But there was something…more. Like some kind of…ominous undertone. Not exactly the "someone's watching you" feeling, just…._evil_. There was no other word for it.

She looked around to see if the others felt was she was feeling. She couldn't tell if the men sensed anything unusual. All four of them seemed to be feeling what they should be right now – impatient, worried, and a little scared. But, Fi and Irene were different. Each looked scared out of their wits. Fi even stumbled backwards as she entered the clearing, like the evil presence had knocked her off her feet. Irene was more in control, which was to be expected, being the probably most experienced witch of the three. She put a steadying hand on Fi's shoulder and looked at Molly, "Mol, do you feel that?"

When Molly meekly nodded her head yes, Jack asked, "Feel what?"

Irene shook her head. "Never mind." She sighed, then asked anxiously, "Ok, where's Carey?"

"Through there." Molly responded. She was pointing straight ahead at a tree that none of them had noticed earlier. It appeared to be taller than the others, situated in the center of the perimeter of the clearing. The trunk must have been at least five feet wide, its roots spreading and intertwining with every other tree. The most noticeable thing about the tree was not its size, however. There were hundreds of incomprehensible symbols carved into it, each completely different from the one next to it.

Whilst everybody was transfixed by the tree, Bricriu/demon had unobtrusively went up to it. So they all jumped when they realized he was there. Now they watched as Molly's vision came to life – the symbols glowed, he pressed them in order, and then vanished through the now-purple trunk.

The two families looked at the other for a few, unbearable seconds, as is mentally conversing. This was what they had been waiting for, searching for, all morning. Yet each person had a tiny voice inside of them, commanding them to turn back, to come back later. At last Molly feebly suggested, "Maybe we should come back later…" As an empathic, her apprehensiveness was six times as strong – she felt everyone else's doubt and fright.

"No. Absolutely not." Ned said firmly, causing everyone to jump again. He had been silent for most of the day, feeling many of the same things as his wife and son. Only he had an even rougher. He was the support system of the family. If he showed any sign of weakness and uncertainty, there was no hope for Irene or Clu. "We're going now."

Rick nodded in agreement. No one noticed until he spoke. "Ned's right. I know we're all tired, emotionally drained, and hungry…" Rick said guiltily. As a ghost, he never got tired or hungry. But he still had feelings. He only really knew Carey as a little kid, but he cared just as much as anyone else. "But now's the best time if we are going to do this. We don't know how much longer Carey's going to last in there," Rick instantly regretted those words when Irene and Ned's faces became a few shades paler than they already were. He hastily added, "Besides, the probability of us being able to find this exact clearing a second time would be pretty slim."

"Alright," Fi said after a few seconds, "I'll go first."

"No, Fi." Jack protested, "You don't know what's in there."

"Neither do you." Fi retorted, "And besides, I have magic. You don't."

"But, Fi, I'm your big brother. It's my job to protect you – "

"When did I say that I wanted your protection – "

"You know what, _I'll_ go first." Irene snapped. No one had the courage to argue, but Molly and Fi moved behind Irene so that they could run in and back her up, if need be.

Irene stared at the still-glowing tree for a little while, mentally preparing herself for what might be on the other side. A small part of her was thinking of all the possibilities. _What if Carey's not in there? Or what if he's there, but…_ She quickly shook her head to clear it of such _outrageous_ thoughts. She looked back at Molly and Fi for reassurance. When they gave her relatively weak smiles, turned around, closed her eyes, and walked through the portal.

Once inside, in God-knows-where, Irene realized that closing her eyes was probably not the smartest thing to do. There could have been demons waiting for her, and it would have been very easy to kill her with one blow. Luckily, she didn't see any as she slowly opened her eyes. What she did see was a huge cave, much bigger than the clearing outside, made of dark earth (a typical hideout for a demon). She duly noted the sunken-in wall to her right, which displayed a 4-foot tall silver, two-tonged spear. But to her, that wasn't important. What was important was the jail cell on the opposite wall and who it contained. "Carey!" Irene shrieked, then ran the long distance to the cell in a matter of seconds.

The rest of the group came running through the tree once they heard her scream. Bypassing Bricriu, who had retreated into a dark corner, they surrounded Irene at the bars of the cage. Contrary to their belief, Carey was not half-dead. Granted, he had a few bruises, his clothes were torn, and he looked extremely tired. But he was not as bad as they all had originally thought – unconscious and barely breathing.

"Carey…you're…okay." Jack said, with a great amount of surprise. Then his cheeks turned red and he added, "Not that we're all not thrilled, I…we…just expected you to be - "

"Jack!" Carey pressed himself against the front of the cage and gripped the bars. "You're all in danger! Get out while you still can!"

"Honey, don't be ridiculous. We aren't going to leave you. Now stand back." Irene backed up a few steps, and motioned for the others to do the same. When Carey, slightly confused, moved to the side, Irene held up her hands. Fire slowly came out of them, coming together to form a ball.

Carey's eyes got really wide as he flattened himself against the side wall. "Mom, let's think about this for a second - "

"Shut up and let me concentrate." After a decent-sized fireball had been created, Irene shoved her hands forward. The ball shot through the thick, iron bars, narrowly missed Carey's head, and disappeared when it hit the back wall. There was now a massive hole in the middle of the gate, the edges of the bars black from the blast.

"Uh…thanks." Carey easily stepped out of the cell. He was greeted with a good amount of hugs from everyone, and his mother didn't want to seem to let him go. "Mom, too tight, too tight."

After Irene released him, Fi jumped into his arms. "I'm, so glad y-you're okay." Fi stuttered, her voice a whisper, her arms around his neck. "I-I wouldn't have been able to bear it if you had – " She cut herself off and took a deep breath. Finally she said, "I was really worried about you." With that, she gave him a long, passionate kiss on the lips. Embarrassed, she walked away, leaving a jubilant and bewildered Carey in her wake.

"You know, if I were you, I would have listened to the boy and left when I could." The group gasped, and turned around. The Protector was floating in the area where the scepter had been. He stretched from floor to ceiling, maybe some twenty or thirty-feet high. The demon was the same as before – a shadow, almost, all black, with three heads at the top. Only now he had nearly transparent, monstrous claws, with long, black nails at the ends of each of the five fingers. Clutched by the two hands was the spear, seemingly longer than before. His voice was even worse than Bricriu/demon's voice had been, a mixture of nails as big as his being scratched against a chalkboard and the sound of too-loud static on a TV.

He was about to say something, but instead of doing so looked to his far left. Bricriu nervously came forward, his feet shaking with each step. "Ah, my newest minion." If the Protector had a face, it would have been wearing an evil grin.

"'Minion'?" Rick asked, stepping closer to the possessed demon, disgust on his face. "I knew you couldn't be trusted."

Fi came to stand behind her father, equally disgusted but also feeling betrayed. "How could you do this to me?"

The smaller demon turned toward the two, his voice seemingly less menacing compared to the bigger demon near by. "I-I'm sorry, if I had a choice I wouldn't have. B-but h-he threatened to k-kill me if I didn't help get you here."

"So you endangered our lives to save your butt?" Fi shouted, "Typical!"

"I'm sorry, Little Duck."

"You're _sorry_? And don't call me Little Duck!"

"_Shut Up_!" The Protector roared. He pointed the spear towards Bricriu. "I've had enough of you and your wavering loyalty." The tongs of the spear glowed dark purple, and a purple laser beam shot out, striking Bricriu. The next thing anyone knew, he was gone, not even a pile of ashes left behind.

Fi gasped, then glared at the Protector. "Why did you do that?"

"Isn't it obvious? He failed to pledge all of his black heart to me. And more to the point, I didn't need him anymore." The Protector said simply. "Besides, I thought you hated him.  
"I-I thought I did. I should…" Fi didn't get it. A minute ago, she had been screaming at Bricriu at the top of her lungs. _I guess in a sense we are…were…friends. Well, maybe not _friends_, but we had some sort of weird relationship. It's not it matters now anyway. He's gone._

"Now, I must warn you, before our little therapy session goes any further…" As the Protector had been talking, he had waved his spear over his domain. Demons seemed to sprout from the ground. At least a hundred of them surrounded the eight terrified prisoners, clutching onto each other for dear life. "…my rates are killer." Fi tried her hardest to keep from rolling her eyes at the lameness of his words.

Rick stepped a few feet away from the group and stared down the Protector. Ignoring a "What the hell are you doing" from Molly, he shouted, "Leave them alone! They haven't done anything; they don't deserve this! It's me you really want. Just take me."

"Don't flatter yourself." The Protector sneered, a hint of amusement in his tone. "They - " The demon pointed the spear in the general direction of Fiona and Molly. "_They_ are who I really want. You're just an added bonus." He stopped for a second, then said, "On that note, I think I'll collect my bonus now." Before Rick knew what was happening, demons had gripped his arms and legs.

"Dad! No!" Both Fi and Jack exclaimed at the same time, and everyone tried to run to his aid. However, around twenty large demons stepped in front of them, blocking their path.. Fi and Jack would have fought them, had not Ned, Clu, and Carey held them back.

Rick warned, "No, stay there! There's too many." The last thing he wanted was for them to be killed in vain.

The Protector gave a menacing laugh. "Aw, how sweet. You really are a family. Now where was I? Oh yes." He targeted the spear at the middle of Rick's chest, and fired the purple lightning beam. Instead of destroying him with one strike, however, Rick was lifted into the air, as if the spear was some sort of twisted magic wand. The Protector turned the spear in his hands, a deafening boom was heard, and Rick was gone. He turned toward the now-furious and grief-stricken group, and gave a single command to his demons. "Kill them."

Instantly, every one of the dozens of demons lunged at captives. They tried to fight their way to the cave entrance, but as more time went by, the door seemed to be farther and farther away. These demons were huge – not as huge as the Protector, but each had muscle and daggers. The worst part was that when you finally managed to kill one, two more appeared. "This is impossible!" Clu exclaimed.

"No, wait, we're almost to the door!" Jack shouted, and after a few seconds, both boys were safely outside.

"Dude, we made it!" Clu cried, and gave Jack a congratulatory pat on the back.

"We did, but everyone else didn't," Jack said with worry. He poked his head through the tree-shaped entrance. "Hold on, here comes your mom. At least, I think it's her. There's so much fire I can't tell."

"Yep, that's her." Clu laughed, "And Dad, and Carey, and Fi! Guys, over here!" The fire kept getting closer, and soon Ned, Irene, Carey, and Fi were stumbling through the opening and into the clearing.

They were about to run for their lives when Fi noticed something. "Wait! Where's mom?"

Ned stared at Clu and Jack. "I thought she was with you."

Getting a bad feeling in his stomach, Jack responded, "No, she wasn't.  
Fi anxiously looked back through the tree. "Oh my God. She's trapped!"

Taking a deep breath, she declared, "I'm going in."

However, Irene stopped her. "Fi, you can't go in there alone. I'm going with you." Before the guys could protest, Irene told them, "You have to stay here. You might not be able to get out again."

"Oh, and you can?" Irene ignored Ned's question, and she and Fi disappeared into the cave.

At first, when Fi and Irene came out the other side, they weren't exactly sure where Molly was. The entire floor looked like a sea of black. Finally, they spotted her slumped up against the wall on the floor in a corner. "Mom, don't worry, we're coming!" Fi shouted above the noise. She instantly regretted those words when about a hundred pairs of eyes turned on her. "Oops."

Making their way over to Molly wasn't easy. They both were tired, and it seemed like the demons were getting stronger. When they were about halfway there when Molly regained consciousness. Somehow she noticed her rescuers, she barely managed to lift up her head and call, "No, Irene, Fi! Go back while you can! I'll be fine!"

"Are you insane?" Irene yelled, "We're coming to get you, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

Yet a half hour later, Fi and Irene found themselves in the clearing once again, each in worse condition than before. "We couldn't help her…there were so many…and we're not strong enough to…" Fi broke down into sobs before she could finish her sentence.

"It's ok, Fi." Jack put an arm around his sister's shoulders and gave her a hug. "We'll come back for her. I promise."

A/N: Ok, maybe not one of my best chapters. But it's seven pages long, that's gotta count for something. I promise the next chapter will come sooner. I already started working on it.

Next Chapter: Fi, Jack, and the Bell worry about how they are going to get Molly out of the Protector's clutches and how they would feel if they lost her. Then, a surprise visitor comes and gives them new hope. Hint: There is going to be one or two Charmed references in the next chapter. Can you find them?


	11. Sharing and Caring

A/N: Wow, this chapter came out fast. I was actually planning on doing this chapter for a while, so I guess I was eager to write it. And, I guess the fact that I actually had time to type it out helped.

Thanks to my ever-loyal reviewers, Fiona12690 (you would think I would have memorized your penname by now!) and B Oots!

Oh, one more thing. I know last chapter I the summary said that there would be a "surprise visitor" and a couple of Charmed references. Well, I decided to be evil and put the visit and some references in Chapter 12, so this chapter will be focused solely on the characters' feelings about each other and recent events. Call it the ultimate teaser. _grins evilly_

Chapter 11

Irene sat at the island, a steaming cup of coffee in her hands. Vodka would have been better for this pounding headache, maybe even scotch. But for this early in the morning, black coffee would have to do.

The events of the previous night kept replaying in her mind. It had taken she, Ned, Clu, Carey, Jack and Fi over an hour to find their way back to the Phillips' house (she would have magically transported them all home, but she was too tired to pull it off).

Fi had run up the stairs to her room as soon as she had unlocked the door, steady tears still streaming down her face. Carey had gone to comfort her, and Jack had stomped off to his room, not wanting anyone to see him cry. Sensing that his best friend wanted to be left alone, Clu had gone to help Carey with Fi. Irene and Ned had decided to stay at the Phillips' until they either rescue Molly or…the other possibilities had been too depressing to consider.

Ever since then, the house had been eerily quiet. Not a single sound could be heard from Fi or Jack's rooms all through the night. Irene had triple checked on everyone, distinctly remembering how it was also noiseless the night Carey was kidnapped. When she went into the rooms a fourth time, Fi had jokingly commanded her to go to sleep, and Jack had almost thrown something at her.

Irene sighed. She knew she shouldn't have gotten up at six. The sullen silence was unbearable. But she honestly didn't know which was worse – _this_ or one more hour of sleeplessly tossing and turning. Not wanting to go back to bed, Irene mentally prayed that someone would wake up and join her soon.

Her prayers were answered fifteen minutes later, when she heard somebody come through the kitchen doorway behind her. A gruff, groggy voice commented, "I see I'm not the only one who didn't sleep well."

"Good morning, Ned." Irene smiled for what seemed like the first time in days. She kissed him on the cheek as he passed her on his way to the other side of the island.

"So that's all the thanks I get for putting up with you last night?" Ned joked.

"Excuse me?" Irene raised an eyebrow and turned to face him.

"You were kicking. Hard. And often."

"Oh, sorry about that." Irene smiled sheepishly. "No matter what I did, I couldn't get comfortable."

"_You_ couldn't get comfortable…"

"Shut up." Irene playfully slapped his arm. When he stopped laughing, she explained, "It's just…this whole thing is so surreal…"

"I think you're forgetting who you're talking to here. I'm the one who married Samantha Stephens."

"What?" Irene asked, not quite realizing what he meant. Then she got it. He was referring to the 60s sitcom _Bewitched_, about the wife of a mortal man who waited until after their marriage to tell him that she was a witch. The wife's name was Samantha Stephens. Irene made the comparison. "Oh, right. We never did talk about that."

Ned smiled. "Well, I tried to, but you always managed to avoid the subject."

"I wasn't avoiding the subject! Every time you brought it up there would be another demon attack or something…" She was making excuses, and he knew it. Irene sighed heavily and said, "Alright, you caught me. We'll talk."

"Finally." Ned looked straight into his wife's eyes. "First, let's establish that I'm not upset about the witch thing. Actually, I think it's awesome. But what bothers me is that you kept it from me all these years." At this, Ned lowered his eyes and pretended to be very interested in his folded hands. "I always thought that we trusted each other. In fact, when I first found out, I was shocked that there was a whole different part of you that I never knew. More so than the fact that my wife was a witch."

When Ned had started to talk, guilt had been gathering itself at the pit of Irene's stomach. Now, she felt like the worst wife in the world. No, make that the entire universe. "Ned, I'm so sorry. I wanted to tell you. I really, really did - "

"But?"

"But when we first married, witches weren't allowed to tell _any_ mortal their secret, even their husbands."

"And when you _were_ allowed?"

"I guess part of it was because of Molly. I was afraid that if I told you, she would somehow find out, and the spell she was under would be broken. And I know that wasn't what she wanted." Irene quickly added, "Not that I thought you couldn't keep a secret. I was more than a little paranoid at the time. Especially in the later years, when Fi started her investigations."

"What was the other part?"

She hesitated, trying to get her words together. "To tell you the truth, I-I…was scared. I worried constantly about how you would take it…if you would be angry…extremely confused…scared of me…I just didn't want to lose you."  
"I think now it's safe to say that you're stuck with me. I mean, if I was going to run , I would have done it weeks ago when all this started." Ned gave a small chuckle, then said seriously, "However, from now on, know that you have to trust me. I am hurt, but I can kind of understand your reasoning. Just promise that you'll tell me everything from now on, ok? I'll love you no matter what."

"I love you too." Irene was barely able to get the words out, too shocked and touched to speak. He held her hands in his for a few moments. Then Irene said, "You know, I have been wanting to get something off my chest…"

"Shoot."

Irene paused, then blurted, "I'm afraid, Ned. Terrified, even I keep worrying. What if we don't get to Molly in time? What if there's another demon attack? What if we all get killed? What if…" She stopped, trying to think of what else could happen. Those were the only scenarios she had imagined, and they had definitely been enough to keep her mind occupied all night long.

Ned went around the island, sat next to his wife, and hugged her. "Honey, calm down. We're going to get through this." His face suddenly brightened up. "Hey, I got an idea. It might help if we think of everything that could happen. Then maybe we can plan what to do next."

"Okay." Irene said meekly, while resting her head on her husband. Getting herself together, she went over and got a notepad and a pencil from a nearby drawer. Sitting down again, she said, "Let's talk strategy."

**

* * *

**

Carey paused on his way back to Jack's room (where the boys had set up camp) from the bathroom. He thought he had heard something. Deciding that he was too tired to care, since it was around 6:15 am., he continued walking. But just as he reached the door, he heard the noise again, this time a little louder than before. Realizing it was coming from Fi's room, he ran toward it, fear coursing through his heart. If anything happened to her…

His heart slowed down to its normal rate when he reached the open doorway of Fi's room. There were no demons, thank goodness. The only danger here was the danger of becoming sleep-deprived. Fi was tossing and turning, while shouting, "No…don't…no" over and over again. Her blankets were in a heap on the floor – she must have flung them off during the night. _Poor Fi, she must be having a nightmare._ Not that he could blame her.

Feeling sorry for her, he picked up her blankets and covered her so that the only part of her body that could be seen was her head. Lightly kissing her on her forehead, he turned to go back to Jack's room. However, just as he was leaving, he heard a small, barely loud enough voice.

"Carey, is that you?" Fi whispered, her eyes opening slowly.

"Yeah, it's me. You were talking in your sleep and looked like you were having a nightmare, so I just came to check up on you."

"Thanks Carey." Seeing that he was about to go, she quickly said, "Carey…can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, anything." He meant that too. Help her with her website, teach her guitar, rescue her from a hundred demons…there wasn't anything he wouldn't do.

Fortunately the favor wasn't so drastic. "Can you…stay with me for a little while?"

_You bet I can,_ Carey thought, trying not to let his ear-to-ear smile show. Containing himself, he replied, "Of course." He went over to the bed, and Fi moved over so that there was just enough space for him.

Noticing that her request might have seemed a little unusual, she justified it with, "I'm sorry, I just keep having nightmares. Really bad nightmares."

"No, it's ok. I don't mind staying with you." _Forever._ After a few moments of comfortable quiet, he asked, "So, are you going to tell me what these 'really bad nightmares' are about?"

"Well, they're not really _nightmares_, so to speak. More like…psychic dreams. I guess."

"Visions? Isn't that Molly's forte?"

"No, not visions. Like… psychic connections. I keep seeing Mom in the Protector's den…she's hurting…he took her powers…"

Seeing the tears about to fall, he said, "You know, they might be just nightmares."

Fi shook her head, "No, it's real. I don't know how I know, I just do. If we don't get there soon…" She remembered Clu's words, _At this point there's probably nothing left to find._ She involuntarily shivered.

Carey hugged her close, sensing that she was scared. "Don't worry. You heard what Jack said. We'll get her back."

"How? If we go back, we'll get clobbered like we did before. And it's even more hopeless without Daddy or Mom." Saying that instantly made her want to cry. She felt like she lost both of her parents in one day. _Well, techincally, one was lost to begin with, and the other is still alive. Barely so, but still alive. _

Carey hadn't thought about that. They couldn't go back to the Protector's hideout unless they had a new game plan. "I'm sure my mom and dad will come up with something." He wish he was as sure as he sounded.

"And another thing. Why Mom? She's a way stronger witch than I am. If anyone, it should have been me, not her." _It makes more sense_, Fi admitted, _I mean, I'm less experienced than Mom or Irene, much easier to take over. And the Protector probably doesn't give a crap about Ned, Carey, Clu or even Jack._

"You gotta remember, Fi, your mom was…_is_ empathic. She was feeling her own pain and emotions, as well as all of ours."

"Yeah, I guess. But it still should have been me. I'm the one who started this whole thing."

Confused, Carey looked at her through the darkness of the room. "How so?"

"Carey, _everything_ is my fault. It's _always_ been my fault. All those times I've gotten everyone in danger, or I was almost killed…it could have been avoided had I just stayed out of it. Mom's been right all these years. I should have quit while I was ahead." Fi buried her head deeper into the nook of Carey's arm and said, her voice muffled, "If it wasn't for me, you would all be living _normal_ lives."

"Fi, how normal could our lives have been when we spend half of our time on a tour bus?" Carey smiled when he heard Fi give a tiny laugh. "Besides, this is really about Molly and Rick. With or without you, their past would have caught up with them eventually."

Fi sat in silence for a while, thinking. After a few minutes she said, "Thanks Carey. I feel much better now."

"No problem." Trying to get Fi's spirits up, he joked, "You know, my mom would kill me if she found us like this."

She laughed, then said, "I know, but can you still rest here with me? Only until I fall asleep again." Truthfully, she wanted him to stay until she got up for the day in case she had another "nightmare," but that would be borderline inappropriate.

"Fi, I'll stay as long as you want me to."

* * *

Clu was woken up when he heard his brother leave to go to the bathroom. Glancing at the digital clock on Jack's desk, he saw that Carey should have been back by now. _He must have gone to Fi's room. I wonder what he's doing in there_…Clu thought, feeling guilty at his twinge of jealousy.

Not able to go back to sleep, Clu sat up, rubbed his eyes, and looked around Jack's room. He and Carey had been in their sleeping bags on the floor near Jack's bed, which was now empty. Jack was at his desk, typing rapidly on his new laptop. He had gotten one a few weeks ago, when he got sick and tired of not being able to use Fi's when he needed it to do school work. Now he used his for a lot more than homework, Clu noticed. Like talking with his long-distance girlfriend, Gabe.

Which was exactly what he was doing now, Clu noted as he got up and looked at the computer screen. Jack almost jumped out of his seat when he saw Clu. "You could at least warn a guy before you read his personal emails over his shoulder."

"Sorry, dude, just wondering what you could be typing at…" Clu looked back at the clock, "6:30 am."

"I needed to talk to Gabe," Jack said dismissively.

Not catching the hint, Clu said "Oh. What about?"

"Stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

Rolling his eyes, Jack reached over and motioned for Clu to have a seat on the bed, which was only inches away from the desk. When Clu sat down, he said, "I just _need_ to talk to her. Obviously I can't tell her about what's been going on in detail, but sometimes talking to her about anything makes me feel ten times better."

Reading what was on the screen, Clu asked innocently, "Would 'anything' include what pajamas she's wearing right now?"

Embarrassed, Jack quickly typed "I have to go. Talk to you later," and closed the Instant Message window.

"It's ok, I completely understand that you need to have private convos with your girlfriend. But I _am_ your best bro – you could talk to me."

"Yeah, I suppose so…" Jack said slowly. "Ok, if I pour my heart out to you, will you promise not to tell anyone? Not even Carey?"

"What about Fi?"

"_Especially_ not Fi."

"Oh…" Clu said, disappointed. Finally he shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, I promise."

Jack took a deep breath. After letting it out, he said, "Clu, I'm a chicken. A chicken and a failure."

"Dude, what are you talking about?"

"I'm scared, ok?" Jack said, his voice rising, "I'm probably more scared than anyone. I'm scared of the Protector, scared for my life, scared for everyone else, for the future…"

"Jack, calm down, dude! It's ok to be a scared! Who wouldn't be? I'm scared, Carey's scared, everyone's scared man! I'd be concerned if you weren't."

"But, Clu, _I'm_ not allowed to be scared. I have to protect Mom and Fiona – they need me to be brave! And that's where the whole failure thing works in. I _failed_ to protect Mom, and now I may never see her alive again! It's my fault for not being able to save her!"

"Ok, do you realize what you're saying? There must have been, like, over a hundred demons there! That means we each had to fight at least…"

"Fifteen, more or less."

"Fifteen demons each! There's no way you could have taken on your fifteen, and Molly's fifteen, and Fi's fifteen at the same time! Give yourself some credit!"

Suddenly, the alarm clock by Jack's bed went off. It was now 6:45 am. Jack went over and shut it off. More to himself, he said, "I must have set it on instinct last night. I'm definitely not going to school today."

**

* * *

**

To both Irene and Ned's great surprise, all of the teens were voluntarily up by 7 am. Some were too upset to eat breakfast, others were too upset not to eat. Irene had almost jokingly asked them if they wanted to go to school that day. She certainly wasn't going to make them under the circumstances. Everyone, of course, said no – they would rather spend the day figuring out how to defeat the Protector and get Molly back.

"Oh, wait, I think I found one…never mind," Ned said with a sigh. They were all gathered in the living room, where they had been for most of the afternoon. After useless talking and idea sharing, Fi had gotten the bright idea to get her magic book. Everyone was sitting on the floor, getting into a position so they could read the spells before Fi turned the page. Not that anyone had any clue of what they were looking for. Irene had suggested, "Anything that mentioned death or death or destruction would be good."

However, the small portion of the book that they had gone through so far was made up of defense spells. While they would be helpful later on, the spells weren't what they needed right now.

"I never noticed how huge this book was," Fi commented. She could have sworn that it didn't have this many pages when she first started using it. _But who knows,_ Fi thought, _maybe it didn't._

"Yeah, this book is proof that bigger is definitely not better." Jack glanced at the back page. "I wonder if it has an index. Or a table of contents?" He asked hopefully.

"Nope. Believe me, I checked," Irene answered. She too was getting frustrated. "There has to be a simpler way to do this."

After a few more minutes of searching, the doorbell rang. Everyone looked at each other a moment, unsure of what to do. Clu pointed at everyone, mentally taking attendance, then said, "Who can that be? We're all here."

It was then that Fi realized that for the past month or so, none of them had come into contact with anyone outside their group. Molly had canceled all of her gigs, for obvious reasons, so the majority of everyone's time had been dedicated to fighting demons. Rolling her eyes, Fi got up and answered the door. At first she didn't recognize the person in front of her. "Candy?" she said, with some surprise.

"Hey Fi. I just wanted to come by and drop off your homework," Candy said, confused. _Since when is it unusual to stop by your best friend's house?_ "And I wanted to check up on you. You've missed a lot of school these past few weeks."

Fi thought frantically. It was nice of Candy to come over, and Fi couldn't blame her for being concerned. But she showed up at one of the worst possible times. _No,_ Fi corrected herself, _The worst possible time would have been during a demon attack._ She thanked her lucky stars that that wasn't the case. But what was she going to tell Candy? _Oh, yeah, 'I haven't been in school because I just found out that my mom, her manager, and I are witches and that a really big demon is after us and is sending littler demons to attack us almost every day' would go over real well,_ Fi thought sarcastically. Finding no other excuse, she said lamely, "I've had an extremely bad cold. Some days I feel better, so I go, but other days I can barely get out of bed." Which was true, to some extent. She can barely get out of bed after being beat up by a demon, that's for sure.

"Oh," Candy said, not quite believing it. "A month is a really long time to have a cold…" she said suspiciously.

"Well, the doctors think it might be turning into the flu."

"…and you don't look that sick."

Fi couldn't think of anything to say to that. So, she pathetically faked a cough and said, as sickly as she could sound, "Uh, I handle colds really well. And I just put on a good concealer this morning."

"Right…" Candy nodded slowly and handed Fi a paper bag filled with books. "Um, this is what you'll need for your homework. Your assignments are in there, as well as Jack's homework – the office gave it to me when I mentioned I was getting yours. I assume he has an almost-flu as well?"

_That works._ "Oh, yeah, poor Jack's so sick he couldn't get out of bed this morning."

Fi winced when Jack called, "Fi, who's at the door?" It was in a clear, healthy sounding-voice, obviously coming from the living room. Candy raised an eyebrow and waited for an explanation.

"Oh, I didn't know you were feeling better, Jack," Fi called loudly, trying to give her brother the hint. Turning back to Candy, Fi shrugged, "Colds are so unpredictable, you know?"

"Fi, I'm not stupid." Candy fumed. "Is there something you're not telling me? If you can't tell your secrets to your best friend, then – "

"Candy, I'm sorry," Fi said, cutting her off before she could walk away in a huff, "I just can't tell you right now. I promise, sometime in the future I will, but for now, you're just going to have to trust me."

Candy bit her lip. "Fi, just tell me one thing – is everything under control?"

Fi hesitated. "It will be. Eventually."

"That's all I needed to know." Candy went to hug Fi, then stopped. "I shouldn't – I might catch a 'cold.'"

Laughing, Fi gave her a hug, and closed the door as Candy walked back to her dad's waiting car. Now in a slightly better mood, Fi walked back into the living room, her homework the farthest thing from her mind.

**

* * *

**

Jack had been sitting at his desk for a few hours now, talking to Gabe via AOL Instant Messenger. Sometime during his typing, the phone rang, cutting through his concentration like a sharp knife. Noting that the cordless phone was in his room and that it would be stupid to ask someone else to get it, he rolled his eyes and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hi…Jack, right?"

"Yeah, who's…" Jack froze. "Aunt Rachel?" He hadn't recognized her voice at first. She sounded tired, even weak, and a little bit frantic. "Are you ok?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Is Fi there?"

Slightly confused, Jack replied, "Yeah, I'll get her for you." He wasn't sure, but he thought he heard her sigh with relief. He went to Fi's room and knocked on the door. "Fi! Phone for you. It's Aunt Rachel."

The door opened, revealing a bewildered Fi. "Why does she want to talk to me?" Rachel didn't call often, and when she did, she wanted to talk to Molly.

"I don't know. She sounds really upset." Jack handed her the phone. "Tell me about it when you get off, ok?"

Fi nodded and held the phone up to her ear, walking back into her room and closing the door behind her. "Hello?"

"Hi, Fi. It's Aunt Rachel."

"I know, Jack told me. What's up?"

"Oh, well, I…" Rachel stammered, as if forgetting why she called. Then she said abruptly, "I can't wait to see you guys this weekend."

Fi sank into the chair at her desk, frozen, not comprehending. She slowly started to remember. A while ago, before all this started, Molly had told them that Aunt Rachel was coming to stay for a week. She was selling her apartment in New York and moving in with her three cousins, who live in San Francisco. On her way over, she was stopping by to see her favorite niece and nephew. Fi hurriedly tried to talk her aunt out of making the trip. "Aunt Rachel, about that, maybe you shouldn't come. We'd love to have you, don't get me wrong, but things are kind of…hectic here. And Mom went away…for a…out-of-state gig." Fi made up that last part on the spot, and knew it wasn't the best excuse. But, unfortunately, she was a witch – not an accomplished liar.

"Really?" Rachel asked, and it was obvious that she was somewhat skeptical. "When I talked to her a couple of weeks ago, she said everything was fine."

"Her schedule was changed unexpectedly," _You have no idea _how _unexpectedly_, Fi thought. "I guess she forgot to call you."

"I guess," Rachel said, then asked suddenly, "You and Jack aren't alone, are you? Is that why you don't want me to come?"

"Oh, no, the Bells are staying with us. They figured it would be easier to fit everyone in our house than in theirs." That part was the truth.

"Oh, good."

After a long pause, Fi asked, "Is that why you called?"

"Not really…" Rachel took a deep breath, then exclaimed, "Fi, I think I'm going crazy!"

Fi laughed. "Why, what happened?"

"It's not funny! It's one of those things that only you would know about. And listen to without sending me to a therapist."

"Oh." She thought that Aunt Rachel had been speaking figuratively – maybe she was stressed out at work, or from selling her apartment, or from moving across the country. Fi certainly hadn't expected _that_, of all things – there was just too much of it at home. More seriously this time, she asked, "What is it? Did Daddy send you another message?"

"Something like that."

Fi sat there, excitement growing within her. _Maybe Daddy was trying to talk to us through Aunt Rachel. It makes sense, sort of. I mean, she _is_ his twin._ "Did you contact him?"

"In a way, yes. It all started a few weeks ago. I felt like he was _here_. Well, not here with me, exactly, but somewhere on earth. I felt his presence. And it affected my mood, too. Everyone, friends and coworkers, commented on how happy and energetic I was. Even Melinda could tell I was different when I talked to her on the phone last week."

Fi completely understood. From both past experiences with Rachel and researching it online, Fi found out that twins have a psychic connection. What one feels, the other feels, or at least knows how he or she is feeling. Sometimes, twins can literally read each others' minds. Fi briefly wondered if that had been the case with Rachel and Rick. "And…?"

"Yesterday night, I felt this really sharp pain, flowing through my body. I thought I was having a heart attack or something, it hurt that much. I was about to call the hospital, then it stopped. Stopped short, just like that. I didn't really feel any other pains from then on, but I was in a very dark and gloomy mood the rest of the night. In fact, I still feel a little depressed. And, worst yet, I didn't feel Rick anymore. I still don't." Rachel caught her breath, then said, in a desperate tone, "Fi, I wish I knew what's wrong with me!"

_I think I might have some idea,_ Fi thought. Her aunt's emotions fitted the pattern of Rick's life, er, afterlife for the past month. He had been with them, fighting demons, but still thrilled that he could spend time with his family and friends, which would account for Rachel's upbeat disposition. And the connection between Rachel and the events of last night were obvious. She must have felt that pain when Rick was being destroyed by the Protector.

Recalling that her aunt was still on the line, Fi thought of what she could say. She felt guilty, but at the same time, she couldn't tell her about what was going on. _Then again, maybe she could help us._ If Rachel did have some sort of link to Rick, it might be possible that she could bring him back. Making up her mind, Fi said, "Aunt Rachel, I think I probably know why you've been having those feelings. I'll tell you about it when you come down this weekend."

A/N: Sheesh, this chapter turned out to be way longer than I planned. I thought it would be some 3-5 page chapter just on the character's feelings. That it is, but even more – Candy stopped by, and I even managed to fit in Rachel's phone call. Before I knew it, I was on the bottom of page 9! Well, anyway, hope you enjoyed this surprisingly long chapter.

P.S.: There are two Charmed references in here. Did you spot them?

Additional Disclaimer: I think it is quite obvious that I am not affiliated with nor owner of AOL Instant Messenger.


	12. The Unexpected

Chapter 12

A/N: The two Charmed references in the last chapter were _does drum roll_ : 1) _"I never noticed how huge this book was," Fi commented. She could have sworn that it didn't have this many pages when she first started using it. But who knows, Fi thought, maybe it didn't._ This alludes to the Book of Shadows, the Charmed Ones' magic book that expands as the witches need new information. I decided to make Fi's book work the same way.2) _She was selling her apartment in New York and moving in with her three cousins, who live in San Francisco._ Rachel's three cousins are, of course, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige – the Charmed Ones, who currently reside in San Francisco. I thought it would be fun (and appropriate) to make the Halliwells and Philips related.

Fiona (would you mind if I just shortened it? Lol): Yup, you got that one right! I'm impressed – I thought that was the harder one. As always, glad you liked and reviewed the chapter. However, I am surprised that you didn't mention the large section dedicated to Carey and Fi.

Also thanks to B Oots!

P.S.: There's probably going to be only one or two more chapters after this one (not including the Epilogue), so it's almost over! (Well, I'm happy about it – I've been on this story for almost a year)

Rachel Philips drove down the street, searching for her sister-in-law's house. The rental car ran smoothly, and the ride from the airport had been pleasant enough. But still, her mind had been deeply troubled the whole time. So much so that she had almost missed the exit.

The past few weeks had been spent thinking about nothing but Rick. And reliving the memories, like home videos in her mind, being played over and over. She had even watched actual home videos for hours at a time. It was like some invisible force was pushing her back into the past, when Rick was alive. Yet, no matter what she said, did, or thought, she couldn't for the life of her figure out why.

It bothered her, a lot, that she was thinking about him so much all of a sudden. She had managed to move on, which was surprisingly more than she could say for Molly. A part of her had died when Rick did. It was too painful, both emotionally and, strangely, physically. So she had decided that it would be best for her to…stick it in the back of her mind. In a way, it was a blessing that she hadn't been that close to Rick those last few years. Their "psychic" bond had weekend, and she would bet anything that his death would have hurt ten times as much if they had been more involved in each others' lives.

_So why the hell am I thinking about him every waking moment?_ Rachel had asked herself this many times, and every time she couldn't think of a sufficient response. There were other questions too. _Like,_ _why now, after thirteen years of normalcy? I mean, I cried a river, I built the bridge, and I _got over it.

_Breathe, Rachel. It won't do you any good to show up at your nephew and niece's doorstep in a panic. Especially after what happened the last time you saw them._ Even after a month and half, Rachel still couldn't figure out what happened. For what seemed like the millionth time, she thought back to that visit. It all started with the messages she was "channeling," written in her and Rick's "secret code."

Then, the night that Molly was supposed to be on television, Rachel had channeled another message, right there in the studio. Before she knew what was happening, she, Fiona, and Jack (who had tagged along) were taking a cab to some unknown building. Rachel and Jack had followed a frantic Fiona all the way to the roof. She stood there for at least a half hour, as if expecting something, while her aunt and brother kept her company, having no idea why they were there in the first place. Rachel had suggested they go back to the studio.

But somehow, just as she and Jack had left the roof, the door slammed shut, leaving Fiona trapped outside. Not knowing what else to do, Jack and Rachel ran down to the top floor and poked their heads out of a window and looked up. They were just in time to see Fiona flip over the side of the building. Rachel's heart had stopped when she saw it, and she was sure Jack's had too. They were relieved only when Fi was miraculously pulled back up. The two had run back up to the roof, only to find Fiona, alone, and crying. That was when Rachel had felt it. There might as well have been graffiti on the wall that read, "Rick was here." The feeling was incredibly strong; it was if he had been there two seconds ago. After being reassured by Fi that she was ok, they had headed back to the station.

That night had certainly been interesting. When they arrived at the show, it was ending. The three of them waved to Molly from backstage as she answered the last of the host's questions. That had been a mistake. It was obvious that she had wanted to bolt out of her seat and give them all a huge bear hug. Fortunately, she managed to wait until the taping was over to do just that. They had all been greatly confused – how could Molly know that Fi had been in danger? They decided not to tell Molly about what happened, since it would only worry her unnecessarily. Besides, it was apparent that she already knew.

Rachel shook her head as she parked in front of the Philips' house. _That's weird…_Fi had later mentioned that Molly's gig was in a neighboring state. If that was the case, wouldn't it have been easier for her to take her car, which was now neatly parked in the driveway? Another thing occurred to Rachel. If Molly did, in fact, have a gig, wouldn't everyone have come with her in the bus? Irene was her manager, Ned was head roadie, Carey was _in the band_, and well, she didn't think Molly would go anywhere without taking her kids. What was up with that?

Shrugging it off, Rachel turned the ignition off and sat there for a minute. Out of habit, she looked at herself in the mirror above the steering wheel. Everything was fine, on the outside, at least. _Don't worry. Fi said she'll explain what's going on._ Although, Rachel couldn't quite figure out how that was possible. How did Fi know why she was having these feelings? Nothing made sense. She sighed. _You'll find out soon enough._ After getting one of her suitcases out of the trunk and planning to come back for the others, Rachel started up the walk to the Philips' house.

* * *

Fi waved her hand up and down in front of her Aunt Rachel's blank, shocked face. "Hello, Earth to Aunt Rachel? Anybody in there?" Thinking a second, she asked, almost hopefully, "Bricriu?"

"Nah, I don't think she's possessed, Fi. Just really, really confused." Jack chuckled. A little while after Rachel had arrived, the seven of them had sat her down and explained every detail. It had been quite a few minutes since the story ended, but she still had the same look on her face. The others were beginning to get worried.

They were relieved when Rachel finally did snap out of it. "Wait, how can you expect me to believe this? For all I know, this could be some kind of…elaborate prank."

Fi rolled her eyes. She sounded like Jack. But then again, she was a lawyer. "Ok, let's skip the 'I swear we're not lying' and go straight to the magic show, please."

Jack laughed. "'Magic show'?"

"You know what I meant."

"Hold on." Rachel held up her hand. "You're serious?"

"Of course. Irene, care to do the honors?"

"Sure." Irene stood up from the couch, steadied herself, and concentrated. A ball of fire appeared in her hands. Suddenly, she realized she had no idea what do with it. Since it was getting bigger and bigger just by being in her hands, she had no other choice but to throw it. It narrowly missed Rachel's head and landed in the foyer.

Ned quickly grabbed the fire extinguisher that was kept by the fireplace and put out the flames. "You might want to be a little more careful next time, honey."

Irene nodded. "I'm sorry, guys. I guess I'm used to having someone, er, thing to throw it at. Ouch!" She whimpered as the sting from the burn began to make itself known in her hands. "Perhaps I should practice more…"

"It's ok, Irene. I'll get that for you." Fi put her hands over Irene's, and within a few seconds the older woman's hands were healed. Remembering that her aunt was still here, Fi smiled at her wryly. "Yeah, um, I think that should cover any doubts you might have."

During the entire scene, Rachel's eyes had been getting wider and wider. Now they were so big they looked like they were going to pop out of her skull. "Yeah, oh, wow. So, uh, let me get this straight. Fi, you, Irene, and Molly are witches. Rick returned from the grave to help you, but got uh, 'killed' by a really powerfully demon, who also happens to be after you guys, and has Molly in its clutches?" Rachel grabbed her coat off the couch. "Maybe I should go. I mean, you all really don't need company right now…"

Since he was closest, Carey moved to position himself between the living room and the front door, preventing Rachel's escape. "No, see, we need you."

Rachel stopped short in front of Carey. A small part of her was screaming, _Run for your life!_ And what could they possibly need her for? She didn't have any powers, at least, as far as she knew. The only thing that made her special was her connection to Rick, and that had died as soon as he did. "Why?"

"You're Dad's twin," Fi stated. "If anyone can contact him, it's you."

Realizing she wasn't going anywhere soon, Rachel hung her coat back up and sat in the easy chair. "Look, everyone, I hate to disappoint you, but I don't think I'm going to be of much assistance. You see, in the decade before the accident, Rick and I grew apart. That bond we had…it's just not there anymore."

Fi protested, "But you sensed him last night. You said you had all of these feelings – what else could it be but Daddy?"

Rachel put her hand on Fi's shoulder. "I know you're trying to find any possible way to save Molly, but I'm not going to be able to help. At most I'll just be in the way."

Tears welled up in Fi's eyes as she shrugged off her aunt's hand. "Please, Aunt Rachel…you have to try…it's like you don't care…"

Rachel could feel everyone else glaring at her. She did care, she really did. In fact, Fi hurt her by saying that she didn't. But they needed to understand that she had no special connection with Rick. Sure, she had those "feelings" last night, but they could have easily been coincidences. She didn't mean to be so close-minded, however, who wouldn't be a little reluctant to get involved in something so…incredible? She hadn't even believed in ghosts or witches an hour ago. _Then again, this _is_ my family. I should at least give it a shot. Besides, nothing will probably happen anyway. _"Alright, I'll help. But don't expect much."

Jack gave his aunt a hug while the rest gave her supportive smiles. "It's ok, Aunt Rachel. I went through the same thing you're going through right now when I found out. I think we all did. Well, except for Fi and Irene."

"Thanks, I think." Rachel sighed. "So, what do I have to do?"

"Well, see, that's the thing…we don't know, exactly," Carey said with an apologetic smile.

"You don't _know_?" Rachel reiterated. "What, did you think I would somehow be able to conjure my dead brother's ghost just like that?" She snapped her fingers for emphasis.

Clu shrugged, "Actually, yeah, kind of…"

Irene thought for a minute. "Hold on, Fi, go get your spell book. There might be something in there that we can use."

"Good idea. I think I saw a spell that would be perfect." Fi ran upstairs to her room, and minutes later came back down. She had the book open and, upon reaching the group, plopped it on the coffee table. "That's it." She pointed to a section of the page.

"It's a little short. Are you sure it will work?" Ned asked.

"No reason why it shouldn't," Irene answered. "Some of the most powerful spells are only one or two lines long."

"And you would know this how?"

Ignoring her husband, Irene looked at Rachel. "All you have to do is keep a picture of Rick in your mind while you read this spell."

"That easy, huh?" Rachel asked. "Ok. Here goes nothing." Noting that Fi had placed five candles in a circle on the floor on the other side of the table, she read the incantation a few times, and closed her eyes.

"_Hear my voice, hear my cry,_

_spirit from the other side,_

_come to me, I summon thee,_

_cross now the great divide."_

Every single person in that room held their breath in anticipation. They released their breath in disappointment when moments passed and nothing happened. As all were about to give it up, a bright multi-colored light flashed just above the circle of candles. The swirling ball shifted and soon formed the face and shoulders of Rick Phillips. Rachel gasped, "Oh my God." Sure, she knew this was what was supposed to occur, but the sight of her dead twin sent shivers up her spine.

"Daddy! You're alright!" Fi exclaimed, joy evident on her face. It quickly disappeared when she noticed that something was wrong. "Where's the rest of you? And why are you all…messed up?" She regretted not being able to find the right words, but she didn't know how else to explain the disrupted facade of her father. Static lines were running through the image, like those that would appear on a broken television set.

Rick sighed and attempted to look as serious as possible. "I don't have much time. The Protector couldn't 'kill' me entirely, so he's keeping me in a sort of prison cell for ghosts. There's no way you can get to me, so don't bother trying. I'm afraid the only way I'll be released is if you all conquer the Protector. By 'all', I also mean you, Rachel."

Rachel choked back tears and asked, "B-but I can't! I don't have any powers!"

"Yes you do!" Rick struggled to put an encouraging smile on his face. "You're a witch, just like Molly and Fi, only you haven't realized it yet. There's a spell in the book that activates dormant powers. Use it! You need to. Otherwise, the Protector might never be completely defeated."

"Yeah, while we're on the subject…" Irene started:"how do we do that? Our last encounter didn't go so well."

"All of his power is in his scepter. Destroy it, and you will destroy the Protector." Suddenly, Rick turned his head, as if distracted by something the others couldn't see. "I have to go. But I learned that the Protector has plans for world domination. If you don't stop him, everyone will suffer." Rick's transparent self twisted and turned, until finally it disappeared altogether.

A/N: I am sooooo sorry this update took so long. I'm in the process of writing two other stories, so I spent a lot of time getting those started. But I think I can work out a plan so I can work on all three stories at once. We'll see how that works out.

P.S.: There was one Charmed reference in here. What was it?


	13. Mission Impossible

Chapter 13

A/N: Here's the last chapter! Wait, no, almost the last chapter (te he). _Does "almost finished" dance._ After this it's one more chapter, then the Epilogue. I swear!

The Charmed reference last chapter was the spell Rachel read to conjure Rick. It is commonly used by the Charmed Ones to call dead relatives, such as their grandmother and mother.

B Oots: You should get a medal. I think you reviewed every single chapter. Thank you for sticking with this long, dragged out story. I hope the ending does not disappoint you.

Rockerbaby43: Wow, someone new! I'm glad you love it! You got the Charmed reference right _gives you a cookie_. I heard rumors that So Weird is coming out on DVD, but they're only that – rumors. I hope they're true, though!

* * *

"Well?"

"I don't know if it worked, Aunt Rachel," Jack said honestly. "Nothing happened."

"Really?" Rachel slowly opened one eye, then the other. She had shut them when Fi and Irene started casting the power activation spell that was in the book. All she knew was that she didn't feel any different. Actually, now that she thought about it, her body felt all warm and tingly. Strangely, she felt something else too. "I'm thirsty."

The others looked at her incredulously while Fi asked, "You're _thirsty_? You've just been given a huge power boost and all you can say is that you're _thirsty_?"

"No, you don't get it, Fi. I mean extremely thirsty. If I don't get some water soon I'm going to faint." Without waiting for them to respond, Rachel bolted out of her chair and ran into the kitchen.

Not knowing what else to do, everyone else stayed in the living room and waited. Carey finally suggested, "Maybe the spell didn't work. Like, what if you two don't have enough power." When the witches glared at him, he quickly added, "I know, you guys have more power than all of us put together, but I'm just saying…"

"Give it up, dude." Clu stopped his brother before he got himself turned into a toad or blasted with a fireball.

"You know, Fi, he might be right." Irene said after a second. Then she dropped her head and said sadly, "If only Molly were here…"

Luckily she didn't have to finish her thought. A scream came from the kitchen. Fearing another demon attack, the six dashed out of the living room. They skidded to a halt when they got to the kitchen, bewildered and slightly amused by what they saw. Rachel was pressed up against the wall by the door, trying unsuccessfully to prevent the onslaught of water coming from the sink. She was already soaking wet, her hair and clothes plastered to her body. Noticing the others, she screamed above the roar of the water, "Make it STOP!"

Ned made his way over to the sink, attempting to keep as dry as possible. Carey followed, and soon the two were examining the faucet. However, it seemed that no matter what know they turned or handle they twisted, the water kept shooting out at full force. "We can't turn it off!" Ned shouted.

"Try to move to over here!" Fi called to her aunt. She, Irene, Clu and Jack backed away from the doorway, but not too far so they could see what was happening. Amazingly enough, it seemed that the water moved with Rachel as she inched toward the door. This gave Fi an idea. "Aunt Rachel, tell the water to turn itself off!"

Rachel managed to stare at her niece unbelievingly through the water. "Are you serious? My own secretary didn't listen to me. What makes you think water will?" Still, after seeing no other option, she commanded, "Ok, you…water. CUT IT OUT!" With that, the stream decreased in pressure, and soon enough there weren't even drops coming out of the faucet. Rachel regained her composure and started in vain to squeeze the water from her hair. "That was a coincidence."

"Come on, did you see how it followed you around and turned off when you told it too?" Fi asked. "Obviously your power is that you can control the water."

"Or the elements in general," Irene added, a thoughtful look on her face. "I have an idea." She formed a fireball in her hands, this time keeping it down to a manageable size. She put her arm back as if she was going to hurl it at Rachel.

"What the hell are you doing?" Rachel screamed, putting her hands in front of her face as she ducked.

Irene laughed. "Oh, come on. I just want to try something. If you can control the elements, you can control fire."

"And what if I_ can't_?"

"Duck." Irene joked, then said seriously. "Ok, stand up against that back wall." When Rachel timidly did so, she continued. "I'll throw it at you, but I'll make it so it will travel _very_ slowly. You try to get it to stop. If you can't, you'll have enough time to move out of the way and let it hit the wall. Got it?"

"Yeah. Ok, let me have it." The fireball in Irene's hand started coming toward her, at the promised slower pace. Rachel concentrated on it as hard as she could. About a foot away from Irene, it stopped in mid-air. "Hah! I did it!" Her celebration was cut short, however, as the ball picked up speed and again nearly missed Rachel as it hit the back wall.

"Ok, so you have to work on a few things," Jack said dryly.

"Way to be supportive, dude!" Clu admonished. Then he asked, "Now how are we going to turn her power into the ultimate demon-fighting machine?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it right there. I can barely control my powers yet, and you already want me to learn how to kill a demon? I just learned that demons _existed_ an hour ago, for crying out loud! Don't I get a break?" Rachel exclaimed in one breath.

Irene cut off Fi and Jack before they could protest. "Guys, as much as I hate to admit it, she's right. I know you're all eager to go rescue Molly, hell, I am too. But, Fi, you know it took you more than a month to get a handle on her powers. Even now they're somewhat shaky. If we're going to do this right, we need to give Rachel at least a week to even get her _identity _back."

A little less angry, but still anxious, Fi cried, "But we might be too late! What if we're…already…" Fi couldn't continue, for fear that she would burst into tears for what seemed like the thousandth time that month. She hated not being able to do anything to help her family. Seeing Daddy and learning about Aunt Rachel's powers had given her a shred of hope that they would be able to get her mom back home soon, safe and sound. But now that she had to wait…she didn't know if she could take this constant tumult of emotions anymore. Not wanting to do anything else at the moment, she leaned her head on her brothers shoulders and wept silently. He immediately put her arms around her, feeling exactly the same way.

Suddenly feeling very guilty, and getting some feeling of what had been going on in this house for the past month and a half, Rachel said, "Look, I realize what you must be going through right now, especially you two." She nodded at Jack and Fi. "Trust me, I've been through this before."

"You have? How?" Ned asked, since the others were too emotional to say something.

Rachel lowered her eyes. "Before Rick and I drifted apart, you see, he…went away a lot. You and Irene probably know this. He would go missing for weeks at a time; we assumed he was out chasing ghosts, or one was chasing him. At one point Molly stopped calling the police because she knew there were too many questions she couldn't answer. During those times, it would be days and days of constant waiting. Just…waiting, not being able to do one thing. Sometimes I would live here more times than at my place to keep Molly from having a panic attack or something."

"Oh my God," Irene whispered. She sat down next to Rachel, who had sat on the circular bench a few minutes ago. "I…we, had no idea. She never told me that he was missing a lot. I mean, I knew something was up, of course. She always said that he was on a business trip. Which was ridiculous – I was their manager. If there were any business trips, I would know. I never pried, but in a way I think she wanted me to know what was going on but couldn't tell me for some reason. For the longest time I thought he was having an affair. I never imagined it was…_that_."

Rachel nodded. "That makes sense. Rick had sworn her to secrecy, saying that it was dangerous for anyone else to know what he was doing. I found out about all this, which was the only reason I was 'allowed' to know. I honestly thought he was crazy. I didn't realize how serious and risky all the things he investigated were. I guess I'm a little relieved now, in a way. I now know my brother was a good, courageous man." She sighed and got back to her point. "What I meant for you to get out of all this is that I know what you're going through. I mean, sure, I haven't been around that much in the past, but please don't think of me as some distant relative who never cared about you guys." She looked directly at Jack and Fi in the eyes. "You've always been my favorite niece and nephew, and I would do anything for you. But you have to put yourself in my place. I doubt any of you would be calm and without hesitation."

"We know, Aunt Rachel, and we're sorry," Jack began on behalf of the group, "We've all just been on the edge of our seats lately. At first it was just the Protector and his threat. Now it's as personal as it can get. We might never see Mom again."

Rachel got up and encompassed Jack and Fi in a big group hug. "It's ok. And I swear I'll do my best.

* * *

"Ok, Aunt Rachel, give me all you got!" Carey exclaimed. He stood on one side of the Phillips' backyard, his legs spread apart and his arms spread out, as if acting as a target. Which he was.

Rachel laughed. Clu and Carey had taken to calling her "Aunt Rachel" after hearing Fi and Jack say it all week long. She personally didn't mind – it was endearing, and she could always use more relatives. The only bad thing was that she probably would feel better about pelting someone with dirt clods who _wasn't_ considered family. "Carey, are you sure about this? According to Ned, the last rock I 'threw' was going 70mph before it made a hole in the ground when it crashed."

"Yes I'm sure! Hit me!"

"Come on, Rachel, do it," Irene encouraged. "It will make up for all the times I wanted to telekinetically hit him with dirt."

Rachel again couldn't keep a straight face. Everyone had been trying their hardest to make learning how to control her powers fun, and more productive, for her. She suspected it was mainly because of her little outburst a week ago. Since then they had discovered that she could, in fact, do what Irene thought she could do – control the elements. She had gotten a pretty firm grip on water and fire, and there hadn't been another windstorm since Wednesday. For two entire days, Friday and Saturday, she had been trying to master the last element, which was earth. She had taken to it pretty easily, especially with all the other practice, but she knew she had to work on this one until it was perfect. It was the only way she would be able to protect herself when battling demons in the cave – by hurling massive chunks of dirt and rock from the floor and walls at an offender. Sure, she could use fire, but Irene might not always be available to give it to her. Closing her eyes and deeply inhaling, then exhaling, Rachel said, "Ok, I'm ready."

"This is going to be sweet!" Clu whispered excitedly to Jack, who happened to be standing right next to him. Those who weren't involved in the "test" stood along the edge of backyard, safely out of harm's way.

"Yeah, I am _so_ glad I didn't volunteer for this," Jack whispered back, "It's a lot more fun to watch."

"I heard that!" Carey called, pretending to be offended.

Smiling as she opened her eyes, Rachel held up her hands. Suddenly stricken with an idea, she waved them up. A mound rose from the ground, taking the shape of a giant earthen tidal wave. It kept getting bigger and bigger until it reached Carey. It then collapsed over him, the end result being Carey looking like a giant snowman, on which the snow had been replaced by dirt. Completely humiliated and unable to move, Carey exclaimed, "Not funny!"

"Oh, yes it is," Fi laughed along with the others. It got to the point where both Clu and Jack were lying on the ground, clutching their sides. Fi would have made an effort to stop, but she knew the type of guy Carey was. He would probably be the first one to tell it to Molly when this was all over.

"Ok, it is. Now can someone help me before I turn into a mud man?"

"Sorry about that, Carey. I just wanted to see if it would work. Apparently it does." Rachel called out her apology. After a few seconds of concentrating, she managed to create a giant wind that blew away most of the dirt. He would still need a good shower, but at least he was able to move.

"Thanks."

* * *

"So…everyone set?" Ned asked. It was the next day, Sunday, exactly one week after the incident. Now they felt they were ready to take the Protector head on. _At least, as ready as we'll ever be_, he mentally added.

"Yeah," Irene answered for all of them, "Does everyone know what they're supposed to do?" She asked as she adjusted her fitting black sweater. Last week had made them realize that preparation was key. They had all had a good night's sleep, ate a satisfying breakfast, and dressed accordingly. The guys had donned sweaters, jeans, and sneakers. The girls had done the same – no one even dared to mention wearing shoes with heels.

Rachel, Clu, Carey, and Jack responded positively. Through a strategy meeting the night before, it was decided that Irene would transport everyone inside the cave. Since she now knew where it was, there would be no need to walk around aimlessly in the woods. Clu, Ned, and Carey would go look for Molly, while Jack, Fi, Rachel, and Irene would fend off the hoards of demons that would undoubtedly attack. The boys would then get what was sure to be a severely weakened Molly to safety while the witches had a final face-off with the Protector. Unless of course Molly was perfectly fine, like Carey, and had been used as bait, again, like Carey. Then she would help. There could possibly be only one problem. "Guys, I was thinking…" Fi started.

"Here we go again," Jack muttered to himself. Fi overanalyzed every single plan they came up with. _I guess that could be a good thing,_ he thought. But at this point all of the "what ifs" were getting to be annoying.

Ignoring her brother, Fi continued, "Do you think we might be too late?"

"What do you mean, Fi?" Jack responded, now concerned.

"What if Mom's…I mean, what if he…her, already." Fi stammered, not able to say it. "If you think about it, why wouldn't he?"

Tense silence followed. They hadn't talked about that yet. Not because it hadn't occurred to them. No, the possibility had been running though their minds ever since it happened. It had just been that none of them wanted to even consider that they might have lost Molly already - at least, not out loud. But now they knew they had to talk about it before they left. If she was, in fact, gone, it would be too much of a shock to handle during the battle. Clearing the growing lump in his throat, Carey said, "She has to be ok. Well, probably not as ok as I was, but still ok."

"But why would she be?" Fi countered. She wasn't trying to get the others to believe that her mother was gone. She just wanted one solid reason why she couldn't be. "I doubt he would use her as bait. He knows we're too smart to fall for that again."

"Maybe he doesn't," Irene reasoned. "And there are other things too. You have to remember that Molly doesn't give up without a fight. She might have even escaped already and is trying to find her way home."

Fi sighed. "I know I've been a pain in the butt about this, and I'm sorry. But I keep having this feeling that we should have went back as soon as we could. The Protector doesn't have any reason to keep her alive, and I think that the longer we wait –"

"Time doesn't have anything to do with this, Fi," Jack stated firmly. "He could have killed her the minute we left. We could have gone back the next day and still been too late. It's better that we prepared ourselves and are more able to fight. Now at least if we can't save Mom, we can save everyone else in the world." They stared at him, reverence in their eyes, getting a taste of what he had been going through this past week. He was a little surprised at himself. Sure, those exact words had been replaying over and over in his head every minute of every day, but he never expected to say it out loud. However, he had to admit he did feel a little better now, and that was enough to clear his mind and help him concentrate on the looming danger ahead. Although most of the guilt was gone, there was still sufficient anger and resentment there to keep him passionate about what was sure to be one hell of a battle. Noting that more time was passing every second they stayed here, he said abruptly, "Irene, you ready?"

Seemingly snapping out of a trance, Irene focused. "Yeah." She let out a deep breath. "I'm ready."

* * *

"Ok. You tell me how this happened," Ned whispered. He, Irene, Carey, Fi, and Rachel were being led down a dark, damp corridor by at least twenty demons. Their hands had been tied around their backs by some kind of super-rope. Neither Irene, Fi, nor Rachel could use their magic, and they were all feeling somewhat weakened.

Carey bitterly, but equally as quiet, responded, "I think Mom may have made a little mistake."

"Hey! Don't blame this all on me! _You're_ the one who grabbed my arm just as I transported us here!" Irene angrily whispered back.

"How was I supposed to know that your powers are touch-sensitive?" Carey looked down at the floor, watching his feet shuffle along the packed earth. He should have known better than to break his mother's concentration like that. He had just needed a few more moments to mentally prepare himself, and when he realized he wouldn't get it, he started to panic. Unfortunately, his panic cost them. Instead of landing them safely outside the cave, they arrived right in the middle of it. They were immediately grabbed by demons, an easier feat since they weren't ready. Luckily, Clu and Jack managed to escape through the entryway during the struggle. The rest of them hadn't been so lucky. Now all they could do was hope that the boys would figure out some way to save them.

"Shut up if you know what's good for you," a nearby demon snarled. The captives nearly jumped out of their skin. They had forgotten how horrifying a demon's voice was. It was even worse this time, without Bricriu's accent to soften it. Not wanting him, or any other demon, to speak again, they complied.

After a while, the group rounded a corner, and came upon what looked like a mini-police station. A cell lined each of the two walls. However, there was only one prisoner at the moment. Molly.

Too shocked at the sight before them to protest, Carey, Ned, Irene, Fi, and Rachel were thrown into the cell where Molly was, one by one. The demons stayed a few minutes, making sure the cell door was sealed. They left shortly after. Despite the situation, Carey found it odd that none of them stayed behind to keep guard. Then he noticed it. The rope used to tie their hands a few minutes ago formed a frame around the gate. No one would be breaking out any time soon.

"Mom! Mom!" Fi broke the silence that had followed. She now knelt by her mother's side, trying to revive the unconscious woman. Molly looked like she had been through hell, which she probably had. Her hair was hopelessly disheveled, bruises and burns could be found on various spots on her skin, her clothes were torn and scorched. Fi instantly wanted to give her a big hug the minute she saw her, but Molly was slumped up in the corner, in no position to be hugged. "Come on, Mom! Wake up!" Fear striking her heart, Fi hurriedly checked her mother's pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief – it was still there.

"Is she still…?" Carey asked, not wanting to finish the question.

"Yeah, I felt her pulse." Fi confirmed. "And she's breathing."

"Thank God," Irene said, making her way through as she joined Fi on the ground. Not knowing what else to do, the others sat as close to the three as possible, trying to get a better look at Molly.

"I have an idea," Rachel said suddenly. "I know I can't create water, but I could do the next best thing. I can conjure up a big wind, like I did for Carey. It might get her to wake up."

"It's worth a try." Irene, Fi, and Jack scooted over. Rachel concentrated, and soon large gusts were blowing around the cell. Finally, it reached Molly.

The breeze played about her matted hair, lifting it around her face and brushing against her eyelids, which slowly fluttered open. "Fi…?" The voice was frail and raspy, but with a hint of hope. "…Jack?

"Mom!" This time Fi didn't hesitate to throw her arms around her mother. "You're ok!"

"Actually, that depends on the meaning of 'ok.'" Molly smiled weakly and sat up. She attempted to stand, but gave up after a few minutes and sat back down. "I can't feel my legs."

"That's ok, Mol. Take all the time you need." Irene soothed, looking back at the cell door, especially the just-noticed rope around it. "We're not going anywhere."

"Irene!" Molly exclaimed, just noting her presence. "Wait…Irene, Ned Carey?" She looked around the cell again, making sure of her surroundings. "This isn't good, is it?"

"Not exactly," Ned answered. "But it'd be even worse if Jack and Clu were here, too."

"They're not?"

"No, they escaped when we were captured. Let's hope they're trying to come up with some plan to get us out of here." Rachel spoke for the first time since Molly had awaken.

Startled, Molly stared at her sister-in-law. "Rachel? What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in – "

"A couple of months, I know. I'll explain later." Rachel scrutinized Molly with utmost concern, seeing the many third-degree burns and deep scrapes. "But first – what the hell happened to you?"

"Before we go into that…" Fi trailed off as she started healing her mother, one cut at a time. Realizing the others were still listening, she said, "Ok, go on." Turning to Molly, she asked, "You don't mind if I do this while you're talking, do you?"

"Not one bit." Molly smiled as her pain started to slowly lessened with each healing. "Thanks, baby."

"Oh come on, like I ever _wouldn't _do this for you. You're my mom!"

Molly laughed, then cleared her throat. "Ok, here's what happened. When you guys left – "

"Which we're really sorry about, Mol," Irene apologized quickly. "We never would have left you, it's just that we couldn't get to you with all those demons there and…"

"It's ok, Irene. I understand. I saw you and Fi try to save me. I know, the best thing to do at that point was to go while you still could and come back later. No sense in all of you getting killed." Molly really did understand. Although, she had to admit, at first she was a little worried that they wouldn't come back. "Anyway, after you left, he immediately tried to kill me. Well, actually, that was later. The first thing he did was try to suck my powers."

"So, by the word 'try,' we can safely assume that he didn't succeed?" Carey asked hopefully.

"Yes, Carey. For some reason, which I'm thankful for, he couldn't get all of my powers. But he did manage to get some of them. For instance, I can't levitate things, or myself anymore, and I've completely lost the ability of empathy. Which is kind of a good thing."

"Hey, you know what's weird?" Fi asked. The others stared at her, obviously not believing that she asked that question. Rolling her eyes, she said, "I mean, about that? The Protector couldn't drain all of your powers, just like how Daddy mentioned that he couldn't erase his memory. It's like…"

"An immune system on steroids?" Carey joked.

While everyone laughed, Fi looked thoughtful. "Yeah, kind of like that. Is it our family, or something?"

"I don't know, sweetie. Whatever it is, I'm glad we have it." Molly smiled at her confused daughter, who simply shrugged her shoulders.

"So, Molly, that's only the first day. What happened the week we were home?" Ned asked.

"That's basically it. The whole time he kept trying over and over again to remove my powers. By some miracle, he hasn't been able to do it yet. He is very persistent, though. At least every few hours, he would come by, aim that scepter at me, and…"

"Oh my God," Irene whispered. "You mean to tell me that in order to get your powers, he had to hit you with one of those very painful-looking lightning beams that we saw him hit Rick with?"

Molly nodded. "Yeah. On the upside, he had to keep me alive, otherwise my powers would die with me."

"'On the upside'?" Carey repeated incredulously.

"Well, that's better than the alternative," Molly retorted. "It's that kind of thinking that has gotten me through the week. If he had thought that killing me would give him my powers, then…" She didn't need to finish her sentence. After a few moments of silence, she asked innocently, "So what have you guys been up to?"

* * *

"This bites, dude. Really, really bites." Clu paced frantically around the clearing in front of the entrance, clearly distraught. Not knowing what to do with his hands and arms, he flailed them about, breaking Jack's concentration every now and then.

Trying very hard not to show his annoyance, Jack said, "For the last time, Clu, panicking will not do anything or benefit anyone."

"I know, but what else are we supposed to do? We can't go in there! But wait, everyone's trapped in there…" Clu began having a conversation with himself, voicing his subconscious. "If we do go, then we'll probably get toasted by one of those demon dudes, or the big dude himself. That would be bad. But it's be worse if he got away with it and took over the world. That would be very bad. We could run away now, and avoid indescribable pain, but then we'd have to live without our families, and that would be indescribable pain in itself – "

"Clu, man, you're rambling." Jack got up from the log he had been sitting on and shook his best friend's shoulders, breaking his rant. "We have to come up with a way to get them out of there, and going on and on will not help."

"You're right, Jack, you're right." Calming down, Clu breathed in, then out, and looked at Jack expectantly. "So what's the plan?"

Jack was dumbstruck for a minute. _What _was_ the plan?_ In all honesty, he didn't have one. But he wasn't about to admit he was as in the dark as Clu was. "Well, uh, first, we have too…" Luckily, he was saved by something distracting in the distance. "Hey, what's that?"

Not facing the same way Jack was, Clu folded his arms. "Nice try, but you and I both know that you have no idea how we can – " He cut himself off when he realized that Jack wasn't just trying to get out of answering a difficult question. Turning around, Clu now saw was Jack was looking at. "Hey! That's that spunkie thing…what was his name?"

"Bricriu." Jack breathed in a deep, menacing growl. _What's that _thing_ doing here? He should be dead. Or whatever spunkies are when they're destroyed._

The boys tensed as the Will-O'-the Wisp made it's way to them, seemingly in a hurry. "Lads! Me heard the news and me really wants to know how me can help 'ye."

"Oh, like you 'helped' last time?" Jack seethed, anger evident in his tone.

The spunkie was unable to respond. Finally, it said, "I really am very sorry about all that. I never would have done it, but he made me! It was either help him or lose me life!"

"You could have told us what was going on as soon as you showed up! We would have protected you!" Jack shouted. "But now our whole families are in trouble, and it's all your fault!"

"Jack, give him a break, man!" Clu interrupted. Sure, he didn't like what Bricriu did either, but he could understand what position the spunkie had been in. "I mean, he had no choice – either help the Protector or die. What would you have done?"

Jack was about to protest, his mouth open. Realizing Clu was right, he abruptly shut it, and stalked off to the edge of the clearing. There, he plopped down on a fallen tree trunk, making sure his back was turned to Clu and the "traitor."

_Then again, was he really a traitor?_ Jack pondered this. In actuality, Bricriu was never officially on their side. Fiona was the only one who almost trusted him. _I guess it's really not fair to blame him for what's in his blood._ Suddenly, Jack remembered a time from when Fi had been in that spunkie craze. She hadn't stopped talking about them, and it got to the point where neither he nor his mother could stand to be around her. Now, he wished he had taken time to listen to her. _She said something about how spunkies only care about themselves. They only have two goals in life: self preservation and having fun, " fun" meaning tricking and endangering innocent humans._ If that _was_ the case, then Bricriu was actually going against his nature. Instead of willingly joining up with the Protector and maliciously guiding them into danger, he had tried to avoid harming them and rushing to the side of evil. _And in his defense, it's not like we're his family or anything. He has no reason to look out for us. To him, we should be like any other human beings – opportunities for enjoyment._

Jack sighed heavily. He knew he should go apologize for treating Bricriu with so much contempt. However, never having been one to easily confess to being wrong, he stubbornly remained on the log. He wouldn't say he was sorry until he was ready, and not a minute sooner.

Clu watched Jack's retreating figure, and choose to let him have a few minutes to himself. _He'll come around when he realizes we have more important things to worry about._ Turning to Bricriu, who was hovering next to him, he asked, "So what happened, dude? I thought the Protector, like, completely roasted you!"

Bricriu pushed aside his rare feelings of concern for Jack and answered, "I was able to leave the demon's body before it was turned to ashes. I doubt the Protector thought I survived, but even so, I tried to throw him off track. These past few days I've been every place me could think of, hoping the trail would be harder and harder to follow. Me was just about to go to Fi's house and check on 'ye when me saw 'ye and Jack standing out here."

"Wow, man, that's harsh."

Slightly confused by Clu's American terminology, Bricriu simply said, "Ya…what have 'ye lads been up to?"

"Well, you see, when you, you know, left us, the Protector got rid of Mr. P…"

"Ye mean Rick?"

"Yeah. Anyways, we fought our butts off, and finally we all got out of there. Except Mrs. P, I mean. She got trapped and is still in there."

"Me can conclude that 'Mrs. P' is Molly?"

"Yeah. We tried to get her back, but there were too many demons, so Mom took us back to the house." Bricriu didn't say anything, and quietly assumed that 'Mom' was Irene. "The next weekend, Fi's aunt, Rachel, came, and she found out she had the power to control the elements – you know, earth, wind, air, fire, and water? Anyway, with her help, we came up with a plan, which is sort of what we're doing now."

"Oh," Bricriu said, not really sure what to make of the explanation. "Alright, then – where are the others?"

"Oh, right, well, Mom zapped us into the cave by accident, so they were captured in, like, two minutes. Jack and I barely escaped. We have no idea where everyone is now."

"Obviously." The spunkie stayed still in the air for a instant, thinking. "I don't know how I can help ye, but it'd be me pleasure to help ye when ye do come up with something."

"Which may be sooner than you think." Jack left his log and came back, seemingly somehow enlightened. "Guys, not to use a cliché, but, I have an idea."

"That's great, but before we hear that…" Bricriu made a noise equivalent to the sound of a person clearing his or her throat. "We have some business to take care of?"

"Oh." Jack looked down at his sneakers, his face reddened. "Yeah. Look, Bricriu, I'm…sorry that I yelled at you. I could have been a little more understanding. I guess this is a tiny bit hard for me – I'm not used to dealing with flying balls of light."

"Apology accepted. And for future reference, the proper title for me species is 'Will 'O the Wisp,' or if ye must, 'spunkie'. 'Flying balls of light' is not the most flattering, no?"

Jack laughed. "Right, sorry about that too. Now, do you want to hear my plan or not?"

* * *

The Protector sat in his "throne," as he lovingly called it, discontentedly twirling his scepter around in his large, shadow-like hands. _This was not supposed to take so long!_ He sighed heavily, causing one of his minions to look up at him in panic. Not wanting to disappoint him, the demon pointed the scepter at the servant, and flicked his wrist. A beam shot out, hitting the less powerful demon and causing it to burst into purple flame. The Protector's smile was filled with satisfaction as he heard its screams. His smile widened when his other minions scatter to the far corners of the cavern. _Ah, that's better._

But it wasn't good enough. He would not be completely happy until he had totally destroyed the Phillips'. However, this past week has shown that that is not the easiest thing to do. For one thing, that witch (he thought he heard one of the others call her "Molly." Eh, not like it mattered) must be indestructible. He'd never seen anything like it. No one, among the dozens he had tortured, had ever been able to survive that many blasts. He would have to figure out some way to get to her, and now the other witches, soon. He couldn't wait for world domination one more day.

"U-h, Master?"

"Who dares interrupt me?" The Protector aimed the scepter at the fearful demon, ready to strike.

"W-we found two intruders just outside headquarters." The demon shakily stepped aside, revealing Clu, holding Jack's hands behind his back, as if Jack was a prisoner. Clu had a serious countenance, not showing any of the fear he felt inside. His grip on the struggling Jack was strong and firm. "What do you wish we do with them?"

Ignoring the servant, the Protector commanded, "You, boy, come forward." He watched with suspicious eyes as the blonde-haired human appeared to drag his captive closer to the throne. "Explain."

With a slight Scottish accent, Clu stated, "Sir, I beg of you, let me join your troops. I cannot take good anymore – it sickens me. As proof of my commitment, I offer you my former best friend, Jack Phillips."

The Protector's expression changed the minute he heard the name "Phillips." "Wait, you're telling me that this boy is of the Phillips family?"

"Yes. He is the son of Richard and Molly Phillips."

Smiling like he never had before, the Protector looked down favorably at the boy. "What is your name, human?"

"Cluette Bell."

"Well, Cluette, I commend you on your deed. As your reward, you may take him to his cell. One of my minions will show you where it is."

"Thank you, Master." Clu attempted to pull off a solemn, yet pleased smile, then turned and exited through the left side of the cavern.

* * *

"That was _way_ too easy," Jack laughed, patting Clu on the back. "He had no idea! Even _I_ thought you might go over to the dark side!"

"You did? I was?" Clu violently shook his head, trying to remember the past few minutes of his life. He then nearly lost balance on the uneven floor of the tunnel. He was also slightly put off by the demon passed out against the wall a few feet behind him.

"Yeah, definitely." At first, Jack thought his best friend needed a confidence boost. Then he recalled that people don't recollect being taken over by a Will 'O the Wisp. More to himself, Jack murmured, "Oh, right…"

"I'll pretend that your previous compliment was directed towards me," Bricriu said, a little ticked off. "Since I did all the work."

"Not true! I was very convincing!" Jack argued. "Besides, the whole thing was my plan in the first place." _It was a good tactic. And it worked like a charm._ His original strategy had been what had just occurred – Clu claiming to want to be evil and offering Jack up as sacrifice. That way, they would both get in, and the Protector wouldn't suspect a thing.

There had been only one problem – Clu couldn't do it. Or at least, he thought he couldn't. He was afraid that he would be too nervous and not brave enough. Bricriu then suggested that he possess Clu, which Jack had immediately objected to. After a few minutes, Jack relented, figuring he could always say Bricriu's name if he stayed in too long. So, they resolved their arguing, and went in. The Protector fell for it, and they walked further into the tunnel until they were a safe distance away. Then, Jack and Bricriu had taken out their escort, and Bricriu had promptly gotten out of Clu's body. Which brought them to where they were now.

Getting impatient, Bricriu spoke up, "Come on, we have to get the others. There isn't much time."

"Right," Jack agreed. Then he spotted something in the corner of his eye. "Bingo." While Clu and Bricriu stared at him, bemused, he ran over to the demon, bent down, and grabbed the rusted gold key that had fallen out of its pocket. Smiling at the others, he jogged over to them and said, "After you."

With that, the three started down the hallway. It was then that they realized that they should have waited until the demon had brought them to the cell. The tunnels were like a maze. They would turn one way, only to have to go back and try again. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, Clu called out, "Hey, guys, I think I found them!" He had just happened to glance down a side passageway. He was glad he did.

Jack and Bricriu backtracked to where Clu were standing, and breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the rest of their party locked in the same cell. The boys dashed up to the cell door. "Are you guys alright?" Jack asked. His heart broke in to a million pieces when he saw the condition his mother was in.

"Well, as alright as we can be in this situation," Molly responded as she uneasily picked herself off the floor. Fi and Irene held her arms to steady her.

"Oh, God, what did he do to you? I swear, I'm gonna kill him…"

"Jack, cut the dramatics," Carey interrupted. Then he squinted his eyes, as if making sure he was seeing something. "Jack, please tell me that's a key in your hand."

"Yes, Carey." His smile wide, Jack pushed the key into the padlock that was on the cell door. He vaguely noted the rope tied around it, but dismissed it as the knot undid itself when he turned the key. The cell door magically slid open, and its inhabitants came out slowly, each giving Clu and Jack a big hug. Jack gave his mom the biggest hug he had ever given anyone in his life, as did Carey to Fi.

As she pulled away from her son, Molly asked, "How did you get in without getting captured? And…what's Bricriu doing here?" The rest of the group looked at where she was staring, obviously just noticing that Bricriu was there.

"We'll explain everything later, Mom. Right now we gotta go kick some demon butt." Completely energized, Jack led his family and friends down the corridor, excited cheers coming from behind him.


	14. The Final Battle

A/N: This is it! The last chapter! I mean it this time! Woohoo! Well, there's definitely going to be an epilogue after this, but basically, this is it! As I am writing this author's note before the actual chapter, I'm guessing this is gonna turn out to be like ten pages long. Ah well, we shall see.

Thanks to B Oots for reviewing last chapter!

Chapter 14

_This is the best day ever!_ The Protector paced gleefully, well, not paced in the normal sense – it was more like floating back and forth. As always, his scepter was clutched tightly between his hands, which he held behind his back. _The Phillips, and the Bells, are in my control. Plans for world domination are almost complete. What could possibly go wrong?_

He did a double take at that last statement. _Murphy's Law – what can go wrong, will._ Maybe he should be keeping a closer watch on his prisoners. Combined, those witches were the most powerful in existence. That rope around the cell wasn't indestructible –

"Sir?"

The Protector sighed, and resisted the temptation to reduce the interrupting demon to smithereens. The only thought that prevented him from doing so was that he needed whatever message the demon had been assigned to deliver. Gritting his teeth, he responded curtly, "Yes?"

Sensing his boss' annoyance, the small demon's confidence began to falter. "The, um, amulets that you, ah, ordered are here, s-sir. They're, ah, in the main storage room."

_I was hoping they'd get here soon!_ The Protector thought happily. He began floating over to the main storage room distractedly, not giving the immensely relieved minion another glance.

That was, until he heard footsteps coming from the corridor to his right. Turning back to the demon and barked, "You! Go see who is making that noise."

"Yes sir." The all-too-willing demon ran down the hallway. A few minutes passed, and the servant still hadn't returned. Wondering what was taking so long, he went over to the entryway. _No…how…_His confusion soon transformed into anger when he realized his most valuable captives had escaped and were heading his way. Not letting his fury get the best of him, he pointed his scepter. Several hundred demons instantly appeared around the chamber.

"Let's see them survive that."

* * *

"Ohhh shit…" Fiona muttered slowly, taking in the sight before her. Unfortunately, Molly heard it, and the young witch began to feel uncomfortable under her mother's glare. Not knowing what else to do, she stepped aside.

Molly had to consciously keep herself from cursing too. What looked like a sea of demons was waiting for them, and she felt like crap. Most of her powers were null-in-void, her head hurt like hell, and she wasn't sure if she still had her legs. And now she had to fend of what was sure to be a grueling attack. "You know, maybe we should have thought this through a little more…"

"It's too late for that, Mol, they know we're here. They're just waiting for us to make the first move." Irene immediately took charge, seeing as the others were either too tired or unwilling to do so. "Ok, we have two choices. We could go in there and give it all we got, or we could turn back and try to find another way out."

"I'm up for going back," someone said, and the rest started to agree with him.

"Guys!" Jack almost shouted, getting tired of having to boos the others' morale. "We can't go back!"

"Why not?" Clu asked, honestly confused.

"Because, if we do, what's going to happen?" Jack asked, then waited a few seconds to let the question sink in. "We'll get away, sure. But then the Protector will be able to have his way. You think he's gonna wait to capture us again before launching his world domination plot?"

"And we don't know if there's another way out," Ned piped up, surprising everyone. "What if we turn around, but wind up getting trapped in the process?"

"So, are you guys ready?" Irene questioned. When they all gave their consent, she started, "Alright, one…two…three!" Both Phillips and Bells ran into the room, preparing themselves for the worst.

* * *

Fi pushed through the masses, losing all sense of direction. She had strayed away from the others, and now was surrounded by black figures, all trying to rip into her side. Needless to say, she was ready cry. Forcing back tears, she kicked and punched, until miraculously she made it to the far corner of the chamber. Not wanting to do anything else, she leaned against the earthen wall, catching her breath as she did so.

She surveyed the disheartening scene in front of her. The forms of her friends and family were easy to spot, although she wasn't sure if she wanted to. They were all fighting, Irene and Rachel making progress with their powers, the boys with their combat skills.

A tear fell when she saw her mother. She was up against the wall on the other side of the room, and Fi could tell that she was trying her hardest to stand on her own two feet. _I should have healed her more._ She breathed a little easier as she saw Ned move in front of her like a shield, knocking back any demon that came her way. "Go Ned!" she whispered, although she knew he couldn't have possibly heard her. Feeling as if she rested enough, Fi got up, with every intention of helping her mother.

"Touching, isn't it?" Fi stopped dead in her tracks and turned around. The Protector stood in front of her, the tallest she had ever seen him. His scepter was in his hands, and the top was pointed in her direction. Fi slowly began to back up, but she hit the wall. She was trapped.

Figuring she should stall at any cost, she played dumb. "What's touching?"

He could easily see what she was doing, but decided to go along with it. This game of cat and mouse had been fun, and he was tad disappointed to see it end. "The way you humans have this care for one another. I must admit, I've never been able to grasp that concept."

"Maybe you would if you stopped trying to kill us all the time," Fi said, momentarily finding her voice.

The Protector stared at her, impressed by her nerviness. Not enough to let her go, though. "Nice try, but I have neither the desire nor the capability to understand. As you have surely seen in the past month or so, demons cannot feel emotion, no matter how much they want to, as some do. I, on the other hand, consider it useless. I firmly believe that care for others only results in the destruction of oneself."

"Is that why you've been trying to destroy my family?" Fi shouted, suddenly gaining a surge of courage. "Because you don't care about anyone else but yourself?"

"Precisely." The Protector shrugged, not the least bit put off by her outburst. "If I worried about the safety of humans, do you think I would be attempting to take over the world? And of course, regarding your family, there is the matter of revenge."

"But it's not our fault!" Fi yelled, now completely over her fear. If she was going to die, she was getting the last word in. "My dad didn't know what he was getting himself into! And what's so wrong about wanting to know about the spirit world? He wouldn't have done anything!"

"See, that's where you're wrong." The demon was starting to get ticked off. This wasn't so much anymore when the captive wasn't afraid. "Everyone's intentions are good at first. 'Oh, I'm just investigating this for me.' Yeah, right! There have been people like him before, Fiona! They find out about us, then try to use that information to better themselves! They either sell our story to tabloids, try to alert other humans, or even have to nerve to attempt to control our magic! Humans are nothing but selfish busybodies!"

"But my father's different!" Fi protested. "He wouldn't have done any of that!"

"That's not true!" The Protector roared. "If Richard had been innocent, he would have quit while he was ahead! The Centorium warned him, multiple times! There were signs, which he saw. We tried everything to get him to stop his investigations. I believe you know what happened when he didn't. The bottom line, Fiona, is that both you and your family are more trouble than you're worth."

"Why couldn't you have just left him alone?" Fiona asked, outraged. "All he wanted to do was find out about the supernatural. It wasn't his fault – people can't choose their passion! Believe me, if I could, it wouldn't have been this!" She yelled, gesturing to her chaotic surroundings. "If he was allowed to know the truth, he would have never became involved in your world ever again! But no, you had to go and kill him! You have no idea the hell my mom has been through because of you!" Fi's temper was rising, and she was sure that if she didn't do something soon, she would explode. Figuratively and literally.

"I'm supposed to feel sorry for your mother?" The demon shouted, his voice becoming more menacing than it had been before. "She nearly destroyed me! She had no right to get involved! My business had been with Richard, and him alone! In fact, I'm _glad_ she has been through so much pain! You all got what you deserved!" With that, he shot a lightening beam out of his scepter towards Fi.

Fi, unfortunately, was unable to move. Her whole body was shaken with anger and hurt feelings. _How dare he talk about my family like that! Everything's his fault in the first place…_ The witch kept shivering, unaware that she was about to be blasted to dust. Finally, the beam made contact.

For a second, it looked like the attack was doing its job. Then, the Protector's smile turned into a frown. _She's…glowing!_ He thought with alarm, his grip on the scepter loosening out of shock. _My sources didn't tell me that she could form an energy shield! Oh, are they going to pay for this._

Fi opened her eyes, after having shut them as the beam hit. _Why aren't I combusting? _Suddenly, she noticed that her whole body was giving off some sort of blue light. It must have been some sort of force field. _Oh yeah, this definitely rocks._ What was the best, though, was the surprised expression on her nemesis' face.

_Hmm, let me try something…_She put her arm forward and, a millisecond later, a lightening beam came out, much like the scepter's, only blue instead of purple. It pierced through the demon, causing him to double over in pain. Luckily for her, he dropped his precious scepter. Seeing her opportunity, she dashed over and picked it up. It wasn't too heavy, not like she thought it would be, but she could feel that it was oozing with power. Trying with all her might to keep it in her control, she ran to go help the others, figuring that she could always finish off the Protector afterwards.

* * *

Meanwhile…

Rachel screamed when she narrowly missed getting stabbed by a dagger. Furious, she telekinetically grabbed a huge rock from the wall and hurled it at the offending demon. As it started to vanish, she shouted, "That was _not_ nice!"

"You tell him, Aunt Rachel!" Carey laughed, then kneed a demon in its sensitive area. _Wait, do demons even _have "_sensitive areas"?_

"Guys, a little help?" Molly pleaded from her position up against the wall. Irene went to blow the surrounding demons up, but Ned beat her to it and pummeled themto the ground. "Thanks, Ned," Molly smiled. "I just…couldn't, you know?"

"Don't worry, Molly. You've been held prisoner for a week. It's understandable that you can't don't have that much strength right now. If you want, I think I could get you out of here if I bulldoze those demons," he suggested, gesturing to the minions to his right.

At that, Molly shook her head vigorously. "No, they need our help. Well, probably your help more than mine." She nodded toward the others, who were having trouble staying alive. Irene was blowing up ten demons at a time, with assistance from Rachel, who was using her ability to control the earth and fire quite often. Jack, Clu, and Carey were using their best moves to destroy as many demons as possible. Molly suddenly wrinkled her forehead in concern. "Ned, where's Fi?"

Ned stopped fighting long enough to quickly glance around the cavern. Spotting Fiona cornered by the Protector, he gulped nervously. "I, uh, I don't know. She must have gotten separated."

"Ned, I'm psychic. I can tell when you're lying. Now, where is she?" Molly demanded. Since she had slid down to the floor, she couldn't see far.

A demon was thrown backward as Ned sighed and turned to face Molly. "She's over there." He pointed to his left, at the other end of the large cavern.

"No…" Tears welled up in Molly's eyes when she saw what he was showing her. Her baby was cornered by the Protector, his scepter aimed directly at her. From what she could tell, through her sight and sixth sense, Fi was shouting at him, and she was really mad. But she was still in danger. Forcing herself up, Molly began to make her way over to her daughter.

"Molly, are you crazy?" Irene called to her, seeing what she was doing. "You can't! You won't make it there alive!"

"I don't care!" Molly screamed back. "She's my baby, and I'll save her if it's the last thing I do!" She started to run uneasily, but halted when she heard a shout. She turned around just in time to see Clu collapse on the floor, blood flowing from his side. The demon about to attack him was instantly blown up by Irene. It was then that she noticed that there were only about fifty demons left. They had made a lot of progress.

Her attention was brought back to the far corner of the room. She broke into a huge smile when she saw Fiona running toward them, the scepter amazingly in her hands. A quick look back to the spot where Fiona had been told her what she already knew – the Protector was down. Once Fiona was close enough, Molly immediately gave her a hug. "I'm so proud of you…"

"Thanks Mom, but you're kind of squishing me," Fi complained jokingly. Out of nowhere, they were broken apart by a demon. Both mother and daughter turned toward it, annoyance in their faces. Without saying a word, Fi brought her hand up and shot out a lightening bolt, the scepter never leaving her side. The demon was now ash.

Molly stared at her daughter in amazement. "How…?"

"New power. Cool, huh?" Fi smiled, then looked around. She frowned when she saw Clu. "What happened?" She and her mother ran over, meeting the others who were gathered around him.

"One of the demons stabbed him with their dagger," Irene explained bitterly. "Don't worry, I already blew him up."

"I don't doubt it," Fi smiled again, then raised her hands to heal him, putting the scepter down in the process.

"Thanks, Fi. That really hurt." Clu sat up, worn out from the pain.

"I bet it did," Jack commented. He then noted the scepter laying on the ground. Gasping, he asked, "Where'd that come from?"

Soon the others noticed it, and expressed their surprise too. Fi grinned modestly. "I stole it. The Protector and I had a show down, and I managed to get it." Her grin became wider when they began whooping and congratulating her.

Calming herself down, Rachel said, "That's great, Fi, but what are we supposed to do with it?"

Everyone looked at each other for a minute, not knowing what to say. They had been fighting all this time just to get the scepter. It hadn't occurred to them that they would have to figure out how to destroy it. When no one said anything, Fi suggested, "We could try – "

"Wait, can't Irene just blow it up?" Jack interrupted suddenly.

"No." Irene shook her head. "My power alone isn't enough to destroy it. The most it will probably do is burn a little."

"We could try using a spell," Fi finished, irritated that she had been unnecessarily interrupted.

"What spell?" Rachel asked. "We don't have the spell book with us."

"Besides," Molly added, "I don't think there's a specific spell for this."

"There doesn't have to be," Irene said, as if coming up with an idea. Everybody looked at her, hopeful. "Think about it. Even the most powerful spells had to be created by someone at some point. And, with Molly being our resident songwriter…"

"Fine, it's worth a shot," Molly closed her eyes and began to formulate a spell.

"You better come up with something fast, Mom," Fi warned, concern in her voice. She hurriedly grabbed the scepter and held it firmly in her hands. "The Protector recovered from my attack earlier, and he doesn't look too happy."

Molly turned around to find that her daughter was correct. The large demon had gotten up, and was now rushing towards them. He stopped abruptly about a few yards away from them, his eyes wide with horror. It seemed that in the mad dash to get back at Fi, he had neglected to note that the scepter was no longer in his possession. Struck with inspiration, she shouted, "Ok, everybody hold on." Molly wrapped her hand around the scepter, motioning for the others to do the same. Quickly. The Protector had gotten over the initial shock that his enemy had his scepter, and was gaining speed towards them, ready to fight.

"Is everyone ready?" Molly asked. When she was positively responded to, she closed her eyes and recited the spell she had made up two seconds ago.

_Scepter filled with so much power_

_this is your last hour_

_against you we do conspire_

_be destroyed by our fire_

Molly glanced back at the others and shrugged. _Alright, so it's not my best work. It's better than nothing._ She said the spell again, and on the third time around the others joined her.

Meanwhile, the Protector had been hurtling himself towards them at an amazing speed. When he got within about ten feet or so, he halted, as if he was unable to continue. Which he was. The scepter had created a sort of invisible force field. Without warning, it pulled itself free of those holding on to it and rose several feet above the air. Seeing that their plan was effective, the group stepped back, still saying the spell over and over. Fi got an idea and grasped Jack's hand, who caught on and grabbed Rachel's hand. Soon, all eight of them were holding hands and screaming the spell as loud as they could.

The glow that was emitted from the scepter was an eerie, sickly purple. It started to vibrate, hard enough for it to be noticed. Eventually, it exploded, breaking into two pieces in the process.

The blast was enough to throw the startled Phillips and Bells of their feet, some falling unconscious as they hit the floor. The rest were awake enough to watch the mist that wasset off by the scepter envelop the terrified Protector, who let loose a violent roar that shook the walls of the cave. Boulders fell from the sides, and the ground split open in various places, leading into a black abyss.

After what felt like an eternity to all those involved, the Protector was swept up in the purple haze until he, too, burst into flame. The onlookers took hold of anything they could find as the cave's rumbling reached an all-time high. The shaking lasted several minutes, creating what was sure to be called the earthquake of the century.

Then it stopped. Not slowed down, not sporadically halted and then started up again. Just…stopped. There was no more trembling, cracks in the ground didn't spread any further, and the last boulder crashed to the floor with a resounding thump.

Jack tentatively picked his head up off the dirt and asked, "Is everybody okay?" He breathed a sigh of relief as each member of their small troop answered him, in various types of "yes."

Slowly, they began to stand up, stretching their different body parts, or rubbing their aching head. This went on in silence for a few moments, as no one had sufficient energy to speak. Finally, Fi woozily commented, "We have to find Daddy. He was trapped here, remember?"

Carey attempted to balance himself on his own two feet. Unsuccessful, he sat back down on a large boulder that had fallen from one of the side walls. "We don't know that. He said he was being held prisoner, yes, but he didn't say exactly where. I mean, if he _was_ here, wouldn't he have been in that cell we were thrown into?"

"No, he's here," Rachel stated firmly, causing everyone to look at her. "I can feel him. Somewhere…" She trailed off, her gaze resting on the wall at the far end of the cavern. She broke into a run, her friends and family following. Placing her hand on the wall, she called out, "Rick? It's Rachel. Can you hear me?"

There was quiet for one or two seconds, then, "Rachel?" Rick's voice came through the wall, if a bit muffled. "You have to get out! He'll –"

"He's already take care of. So is the scepter," Rachel assured him.

"It is?" Rick sounded surprised, then laughed. "I was wondering what all that shaking was. So, are you going to get me out of here?"

"Yes we are." Irene stepped about a foot away from the wall, stretching her arms. She glanced at Rachel. "You want to help? You're power, plus connection with Rick, might make this a little easier."

"Of course." Rachel held out her hand and caught the fireball that Irene had thrown at her. "Ok, three…two…one." The witches hurled the fire at the wall, and continued to do so, Irene supplying Rachel with fire every now and then. After a five minute assault, a hole had formed, large enough for them to get through.

Rick was standing on the other side. "Thanks, guys. It was starting to feel like I would never get out of there."

"I can imagine." Molly smiled and wrapped her arms around Rick as he stepped into the cavern.

Soon, he was overwhelmed by hugs from all of his friends and family members. Grinning from ear to ear, he remarked, "You really missed me, huh?" The others laughed, but soon calmed down. There was noise coming from outside. It sounded like dozens of people running, and everyone was sure they heard sirens. Rick's smile quickly turned to a concerned frown. "That's the police. They must think a bomb went off or something."

"And them storming the place wouldn't bode well for us." Irene motioned for everyone to hold hands. Locking one of her own with her husband's, she flicked her free hand. The nine disappeared right before policemen dropped in through a hole they had drilled through the ceiling.

THE END

A/N: Ok, so it's not _the_ end, but it's pretty close. Stay tuned for the epilogue!


	15. Epilogue

Epilogue

A/N: This is it! The very last chapter of the So Weird epic "One of Them"! I must say, this has been quite a ride. However, I don't think I'll be doing any fan fiction this long for a while. At least for only one show.

Anyway, thank you all for the reviews. It was what kept me going at times. I'd especially like to thank B Oots, who has stuck by me every single chapter. You rock! I really hope that you all (assuming that more than one person is reading this fic) review and tell me how it turned out.

Ok, you ready? Here it is! _Does drumroll_

Oh, and P.S., the lyrics at the end of this chapter belong to Johnny Nash, and I got them off the website l-y-r-i-c-s-k-e-e-p-e-r-.-c-o-m

* * *

_Thursday, November 23, 2000 _

_Thanksgiving_

_My life has never fit into the category of "normal." You know the one – two parents, school, homework, friends, a boyfriend or two. Hah, yeah right. The one boy who ever even considered me was a clone of his father. What does that tell you?_

_As for everything else…it's pretty hard to have best friends and go to classes when you're constantly on the road. Not that I've resented it. Believe me, I love it. Just the thrill of being in a new city every week, meeting new people, greeted by dozens of fans (ok, so they're not mine, but still) is enough to make my head spin. I can tell my mom is the happiest she's ever been when she's on stage; that's always a bonus. And I've collected so many email addresses and phone numbers that I've had to stash them in a rather large box in the back of my closet. But, I must admit, I've never forgotten which person each one belongs to._

_Now add into the mix my obsession with the paranormal. I do enjoy it; it's my passion. But it's been difficult to pursue it when others used to consistently tell me that it didn't exist. And it wasn't only my mom and Jack. There have been a few incidents at school where I was sent to the guidance counselor or, even worse, the principal's office. Do you realize how challenging it is to convince someone that there actually _was_ a ghost haunting the cafeteria? Since day one people have been telling me that my gifts were nothing but a dream or a figment of my imagination. Or, my personal favorite – a cry for attention. Like _I'm_ desperate for affection. Between my mother, my brother, and the Bells, I never get a moment's peace._

_These past weeks have been the most life-changing yet terrifying times I've been through. None of my other supernatural experiences come close to this, except maybe the one in New York with my dad. Now, for once, I'm not the only crazy one. Everyone around me is going through the same thing I am. I no longer have to fight with my mom about whether witches exist or not. She _is_ one! Which I still can't believe. How could she do that to me all these years? Never trusting a word I said about the spirit world, discouraging me every chance she got. True, she had cast that spell, but part of me knows that she remembered on some level…_

_But the best thing about this entire adventure was that I got to spend quality time with my dad. To me, it's still incredible that he's even here. I guess I've been searching for him for so long that I'd begun to believe that I would never contact him. Now, he's a few rooms away in the kitchen, helping Mom, Irene, and Aunt Rachel, who are attempting to make Thanksgiving dinner. All I can say is, good luck to him. _

"Fi, come here!" Melinda exclaimed from her position on the couch in front of the living room TV. "You have to see this!"

"I'll be there in a minute," Fi responded, then when back to typing in her diary that she kept on her laptop.

Yeah, Aunt Melinda's here, as are the twins. They were all thrilled when we broke down and told them what had been going on for the past month and a half. How could we not, with my supposedly dead father greeting them at the door? Aunt Melinda was so happy to see him that she cried for more than a few minutes. Maggie and Miranda were more ecstatic about the other stuff – they always knew I was a witch, even when I didn't. Hm, maybe they inherited some of my mom's psychic abilities. They are twins; it wouldn't be that weird.

_Did I just say that having psychic powers wouldn't be that weird? Wow, I think I've gone over the edge. Ah, well, at least Jack will finally be right about something._

_And he's been right about another thing, too. I am definitely far from "normal." But you know what? I don't mind it at all.

* * *

_

"I can't believe this!" Fi exclaimed. She had joined her aunt and cousins in front of the TV. Jack, Clu, and Carey had come over too, wanting to know what the excitement was all about.

It was quite funny, really. It turned out that all of Hope Springs had felt the shaking caused by the explosion a week ago. Police were still trying to find out what the source of it was. This was Colorado – it wasn't like it could have been an earthquake. They were convinced it was some sort of bomb, but couldn't find any evidence that it was.

The screen was displaying the immediate area affected by the so-called bomb, known to those in the Phillips' household as the land above the Protector's hideout. The place was leveled; not a single tree remained standing. Except, of course, for the tree that served as the caves' entryway. The cops couldn't for the life of them figure that one out.

It had been hard for investigators to dig deep into the underground cavern, but they had done it. Everything was in ruins. Thankfully, no leftover demons had been found. They had probably vanished or been destroyed by falling boulders.

"Uh oh, I think we have trouble." Carey pointed to the footage. Men wearing black uniforms were scraping some substance off the ground. It looked like blood. "If that belongs to one of us…and our fingerprints have got to be all over that cave…"

"Don't worry about it, bro," Clu told him, "Whatever happens, happens."

"Besides," Jack reassured him, "even if they identify us, what can they do? All it proves is that we were there – not that we set off anything."

Carey considered their explanations, then asked, "So, is there any chance that they might find out about you guys?"

The three teens deliberated his question for a moment, then smiled and responded simultaneously. "Nah."

* * *

"Can I come in?" Jack questioned as he knocked on the door to his sister's room, where she was taking a break from all the chaos downstairs. He had to smile. After all that's happened, she was the same – curled up on her bed, typing furiously on her laptop.

Fi looked up in surprise. Her big brother never knocked when the door was open, let alone asked permission to enter. Therefore, she regarded him with suspicion. "Um, yeah, sure."

When she made no move to get up, he sauntered over to her bed and casually glanced at the computer monitor. "You're still on that whole website thing?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Jack shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I figured that since you know all the answers now you wouldn't update it anymore."

"I don't have _all_ the answers. Just a lot more than I used to." Fi sighed and shut down the machine. She didn't need her ESP to tell her that he wanted to talk to her about something. "So…what'd you come up here for?" She didn't mean to sound so blunt, but Jack only came to her room for important stuff.

Jack pretended to be hurt. "What? An older brother can't check up on his favorite little sister…"

"I'm your _only_ little sister, Jack," Fi rolled her eyes, then commanded, "Come on, spit it out."

"I wanted to say…" Jack paused. This was really hard, especially for him. "I'm sorry. You were right."

Fi blinked once, then another time. She must have been mistaken, for it sounded like her stubborn brother had just admitted that he was wrong about something. Trying not to go into a state of shock, she stammered, "About w-what?"

"Don't make me say it…" Jack groaned when he realized that she really didn't know what he was apologizing for. "You know what, Fi. About all this paranormal business. There must have been a few dozen times when you've tried to convince me that magic existed and I thought you were crazy. I've seen enough to know how horribly wrong I was, and…I'm sorry for what I put you through."

Fi sat there a minute, stunned. Finally she got off the bed and wrapped her arms around her brother's neck. "Thank you so much, Jack! You have no idea how good this feels! All these years I've been trying and trying to get someone to believe me; to convince them that I'm not completely insane. And now…" A bit reluctantly, she let go of her brother, after seeing that she was choking him. "Well, let's just say that it's very nice to know that I'm not alone in this anymore."

"Alone in what?" Molly stood in the doorway, after having caught only a few seconds of the conversation. She came over and sat on the bed next to Fi, across from Jack, who had sat down on the computer chair.

"Oh, nothing important…" Jack began, not wanting his mother to be told his moment of weakness.

"Jack was just saying something that I've been wanting to hear for a very long time. He apologized."

Molly did not need to be told for what. "Yeah, baby, I guess I should too." She took a deep breath and started. "I'm sorry, Fi, for not believing in you, and also for not trusting you. But you have to understand that I was worried! Thanks to your father, I knew that the spirit world was a dangerous place. I was just so nervous that the same thing would happen…I didn't want to lose you, too."

"It's ok, Mom." Seeing that she needed it, Fi gave her a hug. "I know you were looking out for me, but it was so frustrating…"

All three were relieved when Irene's call came from downstairs. "Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes, everybody!" Then, a little softer, but still audible, "If I don't burn anything else."

They laughed, glad that the serious moment was over. Molly and Jack went downstairs, leaving Fi on her bed, at one of the happiest times in her life. She was about to join everyone when she noticed a spark outside her bedroom window. Maintaining her cool, she went over to make sure that she was seeing what she thought she was seeing.

Sure enough, Bricriu burst through the open window. "Well, Little Duck, that was certainly interesting."

Fi wasn't sure whether to be happy or angry. She then decided that she was in fact happy to see the spirit. "Bricriu! What happened? Last time I saw you was when we were in the caves."

Bricriu laughed. "I got out of there as soon as I noted that I was no longer needed. I doubt I would have been much help in the battle. Besides, I have to look out for me own safety, don't ya know."

"Oh, I know." Fi rolled her eyes, then said, "Well, at any rate, I'm glad you're ok. You gave me a lot of headaches, but you did help us out in the end."

"Yes I did," Bricriu confirmed. "And I must say that I will miss you, Little Duck."

"Miss me?" Fi repeated, not comprehending. "Why, where are you going?"

Bricriu sighed. "Back into the world. I've served my purpose here and kept you and your family out of danger – "

"And put us into it more than once," Fi muttered.

Ignoring her, he continued. "So there's really no reason to stick around. Besides, I've wasted too much of me life here. There are so many other humans out there to hound that it surprises me that me stayed this long."

"Gee, doesn't that make me feel special," Fi said sarcastically. Then she turned serious. "We've had our low points, but, I gotta admit, I will miss you…in a way."

"And I you, _in a way_," the spunkie mimicked, then flew over to the window. "Good bye, Little Duck." With that, he zipped away into the afternoon sky.

"Good bye, Bricriu," Fi whispered. A little emotional, she got up to go downstairs and be with her family.

* * *

"Fi, show us!" Miranda jumped up and down, using the armrest on the easy chair that Fi was sitting on as support.

"Yeah, show us Fi!" Maggie echoed, jumping on the other side, her blonde curls bouncing behind her.

Fi sighed and mentally counted to ten. "Guys, it takes a lot of effort to turn into an animal! I'm not doing it just so you can say how cool it is!"

At their cousin's outburst, the twins calmed themselves somewhat. Maggie then asked, putting on her best pleading face, "Come on, Fi! You're the only one who hasn't shown her powers yet!"

"Pretty please?" Miranda pleaded, making her eyes as wide as she possibly could. When she realized it wouldn't work, she got another idea. "Hey, Maggie, maybe we can get Irene to blow something else up!"

Catching on, Maggie nodded her head, "Yeah, let's go! See ya, Fi…" They started to go towards the kitchen – very slowly.

"Alright, I'll do it!" She moaned when the twins came rushing back to the chair. She had fallen for it, hook, line, and sinker. _You know, you think that with this whole ESP thing I would be able to tell when someone is trying to trick me._

"So, Fi, what animal are you going to turn into?" Maggie asked excitedly, promptly resuming her bouncing.

Miranda looked thoughtful. "Turn into a really big cat! Like a panther!"

Fi shook her head. Then she got an idea. "No, I don't think a panther would fit in our living room. Besides, I'm not going to change into an animal."

Both girls stared at her bemusedly. Finally, Maggie questioned, "Then what are you going to do?"

Fi laughed. "You honestly don't think that turning into animals is the only power I have, do you?" While the girls' eyes widened, Fi raised her palm. Then, after thinking about it for a second, she pivoted to face the open window. _There, I think that's a lot safer._ Her palm still raised, she fired a blue lightning beam.

"Whoa…" The younger girls whispered in unison, then cried, "Fi, watch out!"

"What?" Fi had glanced at the twins after firing the shot, but now turned back. Instead of soaring into the sky, the beam had ricocheted off a tree and was heading towards her. Fi simply stood there, frozen like a deer caught in the headlights.

Fortunately, Carey chose that moment to walk in from the kitchen. Noticing the danger, he leaped toward the immobile witch. "Fi!" He jumped on her, tackling her to the ground right as the beam hit the wall that had been directly behind her head.

Fi laid on the ground for an instant, startled both by her near-death experience and the fact that her latest love interest was on top of her. "Thanks, Carey." Her voice was husky – she didn't think she could take his body touching hers for another minute.

Apparently, he couldn't either. "No problem, Fi." Then he planted a very passionate kiss on her shocked but welcoming lips. Maggie and Miranda watched in a mix of disgust and happiness as the new couple proceeded to make out on the floor.

Losing all track of where he was, Carey pushed his hand up Fi's back and reached for her bra. He stopped immediately when he sensed two people standing over them. He gazed up, a guilty look on his face. Sure enough, both his and her mothers were there, arms crossed…smiling? "Uh, hi Mom. This isn't what it looks like."

Irene tried not to burst out laughing. "What, you and Fiona _not_ on top of each other and kissing?"

"Ok, maybe it is what it looks like." Moaning, Fi pushed a shocked Carey off of her and stood up. "But that's not the whole story. See, I was showing those two over there," she pointed to Maggie and Miranda, who were attempting to escape to the kitchen, "my new lightening beam power. It backfired, and I would have gotten killed if Carey hadn't shoved me out of the way. We fell on to the floor, and, well…you know the rest."

Molly stared at Carey, thinking. "I'm not sure whether to thank you for saving my daughter's life or yell at you for almost causing her to lose her virginity."

"Who are we kidding, Mol?" Irene interrupted. Turning to a surprised Carey and Fi, she explained. "We've been wanting you two to get together for a while. We're practically family already – why not make it official?"

Fi blushed. "I don't think we're quite ready for _that_ yet…"

Irene laughed, "That's not what I meant. I just wanted to say that we're really happy for the both of you."

"Yeah," Molly agreed. Then she added, only half joking, "Of course, that doesn't mean that there won't be rules…"

Carey and Fi groaned in unison, imagining what those rules might be.

* * *

Jack laid on his bed, rubbing his stomach. _Man, I forgot how good a cook Dad was._ Even though the women had magical powers, they were clueless when it came to making Thanksgiving dinner. Therefore, Rick had taken over. The turkey had been so perfect that Jack already couldn't wait to dig in to the leftovers tomorrow.

Just then it hit him how much he's gotten used to having his father around. It was a little scary. You would think that after a guy's been dead for thirteen years it would be hard to adapt to having him around. But it turned out to be the opposite – this past month, it was like he had never been gone.

And now he had to say good bye again. Rick had announced last night that he would be leaving today, despite everyone's vehement protests. _Mom started crying on the spot. Then again, who can blame her?_ It was like they were losing him for the first time. And after all they've been through, he knew that the next few months were not going to be pleasant.

_It's just not fair!_ Jack thought angrily, punching his pillow. _Why did he have to leave? _The rational part of him knew that his dad couldn't stay. Or if he did, he wouldn't be able to go anywhere. _Oh yeah, that'll go over real well with the neighbors. What would we say – that he's our dad's long lost twin brother?_ Jack paused. _Hm, that's actually not a bad idea…_

_No, stop it._ Jack chided himself. How could he let his imagination go so off course? He then reasoned, _well, I guess it's not that far-fetched when you're living with four witches and a ghost. _

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a knock. Jack sighed, then called, "Come in." If he turned whoever it was away, they would tell the others. And a pity party wasn't what he needed right now.

_Then again…_He froze when he saw his father come through the doorway. Jack sighed. "Hey Dad."

"Hey," Rick's eyes seemed to be fixated on his shoes. "Mind if I sit down?" He motioned to the bed. Jack shrugged nonchalantly. Rick took it as a yes and sat. He cleared his throat nervously. "You know I'm, uh, leaving tonight, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Jack replied sharply, his voice bitter.

Rick did not fail to notice the tone. "Look, Jack, if I had a choice I would stay. But unfortunately this is not my choice to make."

"But it's your life!" Jack exclaimed suddenly. Then he realized his mistake. "I mean, afterlife! And it's our lives too! They have no right to take you away from us! We need you!"

Rick closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them. "Yes, it's not fair. But what do you want me to do, Jack? I don't have that kind of power where I can say 'screw them' and come back to life!"

Jack was now sitting straight up on the bed, tears threatening to flow. "But Mom, Fi, Aunt Rachel and Irene do! And you know that!"

"There's more to it than that!" Rick responded, almost shouting. "I know you don't want to hear this, but there's a reason I died! It was something that had to happen!"

"Why?" Jack challenged. "Why did you have to go and let Fi and I grow up without a father?"

Rick suddenly became quiet. "Honestly, I don't know. But I do know that it wasn't just bad luck that I got into that car."

That did it. Tears streamed down Jack's face. He tried furiously to wipe away each one, as a result getting his shirt sleeve soaking wet. Sensing his son needed it, Rick hugged him, then let it go after a few seconds. Looking him square in the eye, Rick said, "Alright, I need you to listen to me. Are you listening, Jack?"

Jack only nodded. But when his father stared at him harder, he muttered, "Yes."

"Good. Now, in a few hours, I'm going to leave. And will probably never see any of you ever again. I don't mean to frighten you – those are the facts. What I need you to do, no matter what, is to stay strong. I don't care what it is. Always keep your chin up. Your sister and mother look to you for strength – yes, even Molly. Sometimes it may seem like they don't pay attention to or respect you, but they do.

And another thing. Watch out for them. Your mom's most likely not going to be very emotionally unstable for the next few days. Make sure she doesn't go into a rut. And if she starts dating again, don't give her a hard time, understand?" Rick sighed when Jack half-smiled at his pathetic attempt at humor. "And, Fi, oh man. She's going to get into a lot of trouble, that much I can tell. Some of it will be the normal teen trauma, but then there's also demons and other beings that she may encounter. Keep an especially close eye on her. Don't let her get into too much trouble, ok?"

"Okay," Jack said, his voice barely a whisper. "I'll miss you, Dad." Not able to contain himself, he gave his father another hug.

A bit surprised, Rick responded, "I'll miss you too." When they separated, he got up.

Jack began to panic. These were going to be the last few minutes that he would get with his father. Gathering his courage, he managed to utter the one thing he'd been wanting to say ever since he could remember. "Good bye, Dad."

Somehow knowing that his son did not want him to answer, Rick just smiled sadly at him as he left the room.

* * *

**SugarCandy:** Hey, Fi! What is _up_, girl? I haven't talked to you in weeks!

Fi smiled as she read the instant message on her laptop screen. _No matter what happens, Candy will always be there for me. That's a nice feeling._ _Only thing now is that I have to tell her my little secret. Ok, maybe it's not so little._

Attempting to sound casual, Fi replied:

**Rockerbaby: **nm. Just…hanging out.

There was a long pause, then:

**SugarCandy:** You know, you're a really bad liar. _I _can tell you're not telling the truth, and this is the Internet!

**Rockerbaby: **lol. Look, a lot's happened since you came over a few weeks ago–

**SugarCandy:** No kidding! You haven't been at school in more than a week! Are you ok?

**Rockerbaby:** Remember what I said about when I was going to tell you what was going on?

**SugarCandy:** _thinks_ Oh yeah! You said "sometime in the future"… omg

**Rockerbaby: **Yep. Come over tomorrow and I'll spill everything. I just need you to promise me two things before I do.

**SugarCandy:** WHAT?

**Rockerbaby:** Whoa, calm down girl, lol. Number 1: Don't tell ANYBODY what I tell you.

**SugarCandy:** Of course!

**Rockerbaby:** And number 2: Keep an open mind. A REALLY open mind.

**SugarCandy:** _is very confused_ what… Fi, are you pregnant?

**Rockerbaby: **NO!

**SugarCandy: **Calm down, just making sure.

**Rockerbaby:** I am _so _not pregnant…

**SugarCandy:** Ok, Fi, I believe you.

**Rockerbaby:** Right. Anyway, come over tomorrow any time. I gotta go – Dad just walked in.

**SugarCandy:** Ok…hold up…you just said _Dad_…Is that the secret? That he wasn't dead and was actually a secret agent in hiding?

**Rockerbaby:** _smiles secretively_ Something like that. I'll explain TOMORROW. gtg – ttyl

**SugarCandy: **Wait, maybe he was in the Witness Protection Program!

**Rockerbaby: **GOOD BYE, Candy

**SugarCandy:** Hold on, maybe he –

Fi never read the last part of Candy's sentence as she turned off her laptop and looked up at her dad, who had walked in while she was still typing. He had casually glanced over her shoulder and was now very curious. "Who was that, Fi?"

"My best friend, Candy." She slid over and made room for her dad on the bed. "She was trying to guess what I was hiding."

"You're not going to tell her, are you? That's against the rules," Rick warned, concerned.

Fi shook her head. "No, it's not. The Bells know about us. I mean, Irene's a witch, but the guys aren't."

"But they would know anyway," Rick protested. "They're Irene's family, and therefore would be allowed to know."

Fi thought about that a minute, then shrugged nonchalantly. "It's not like it matters. Bricriu said that a witch could tell the people she trusts. And I definitely trust Candy. She's been my best friend since kindergarten." Seeing that her father still wasn't convinced, she sighed. "And besides, Mom was skimming through the spell book and found a memory erase spell. Worse comes to worse, we can use that."

Rick visibly relaxed. "I guess you're right."

"You know, that's the third time I've heard that today. And I must say that it is kind of nice." Fi grinned, pleased with herself. "Anyway, I assume you didn't come in here just to discuss privacy issues."

"You assume correctly." Rick paused, not really knowing how to proceed. "I, uh, came to say good bye."

Fi froze, shocked by his abrupt words. Her tension eased when she remembered that he had announced it last night. "Oh, yeah, um…so are we gonna hug or what?"

Rick laughed lightly, at the same time knowing that he was going to miss his daughter like crazy. "Not so fast. I've got a few words of wisdom I want to pass down."

"Oh," Fi uttered quietly.

Rick was put off by his daughter's silent acceptance of him leaving. "Is there anything you want to say before I start?"

Fi hesitated, then said in an even voice. "I just…I'm going to miss you so much. This past month has been…amazing. I have to tell you – I was beginning to lose hope that I would ever find you, contact you. And, you just show up in my living room one night. I've dreamed about having this conversation ever since I was little, and now…I don't know what to say. All the questions I've been gathering in my head flew out the window."

"Or maybe you don't need me to tell you the answers anymore," Rick suggested, and grinned when she nodded her head. He sighed, momentarily not know what to say. He had mentally prepared a whole big speech. But it had ended up like Fi's questions – thrown out the window. "I love you…so much, Fi," He was startled to see tears forming in his daughter's eyes. _Oh no, not again._ "And I would do anything to protect you. But at the same time, you have to be careful."

Fi nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I know, but it's so hard some times." Her voice was becoming hoarse, and she felt a sob coming on. "I try, I really do, but sometimes…"

"I know, I know." Rick wrapped her in his arms and held her. "But you have to make an effort. There are others out there just as powerful and evil as the Protector. And would love to get a piece of you guys. Just don't go looking for spirits like you used to, ok? Things have changed. It's not safe for you anymore. Come to think of it, it never was."

"I'll try to stay out of trouble," Fi assured him, her tone now a whisper. "I promise."

"That's my girl." Rick kissed the top of her head, then held her a little more. "I love you, Fiona."

Fi sobbed, reluctant to let go. "I love you too, Daddy."

* * *

Molly frantically skimmed through the spell book that lay on her bed. Rick would be leaving soon. Right now was her last chance to find a way to make him stay. "Potions…power binding…punctuality…no, no, and man, there's a spell for everything in here." Molly let out a frustrated sigh. She had been doing this for hours, and had come up empty handed. There had to be _something_,

Sensing that someone was at the door, she lifted her head. _Rick._ Ashamed, she closed the book as quietly as possible and shoved it under her stretched-out legs. She smiled at Rick innocently. "Hi, baby."

"Melinda and the girls went home," Rick mentioned, then came over and sat next to her on the bed, copying her position. He looked at her, obviously knowing that she was up to something. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Oh." Sighing, Molly pulled the book out from under her legs. "I thought there might be a spell in here that could, um…"

"Molly," Rick shook his head. "I'm going to have to go sooner or later."

"I know," Molly closed her eyes and flopped back on the bed. "I just…it's not fair! It's like losing you all over again."

_Here we go._ "Honey, I talked with Fi and Jack, and they said the exact same thing. Don't make this any harder on me than it already is." He too lied down, his head resting slightly above hers on the pillow.

"I'm sorry, but I miss you…so much," Molly inched closer to Rick, snuggling into his body. "It's so hard living without you."

"That's only because you've made it that way." She glanced up at him confused. Putting his arms around her, he explained, "Most widows are over their deceased loved ones by now. They still love and miss them, but many manage to marry again and start new families." At her slightly insulted face, he grinned. "And, let's face it, you haven't been on a date in, what, months?"

Molly pulled back, offended. "_Excuse_ me? That's none of your business! And besides…how do you know what my love life has been like?" She sat up straight on the bed against one of her pillows, not in the mood to cuddle anymore.

Rick chuckled. "It was a shot in the dark. I had a feeling you haven't been a key player in the dating game."

She rolled her eyes and relaxed against the pillow a little more. "I just haven't met anyone that I'm interested in. And with all the traveling…"

"You've been home for quite a while," Rick pointed out. "And, Molly, you're a famous rock star. I'm sure there are tons of guys who would love to go out with you."

"I wouldn't say _famous_, exactly…" Molly shrugged modestly, then sighed. "I would date more, I just feel like…I know this sounds silly, but…like I'm betraying you. And not to mention I still think about you every day."

"Molly, Molly, Molly," Rick shook his head. "Ever hear of the phrase 'moving on'? I'm _dead_." Seeing that she was about to protest, he cut her off. "Promise me that from now on, you'll at least attempt to go on a date more often. Every other week, maybe?"

Molly looked at him strangely, "You know, there's something weird about your dead husband telling you that you need to get out more."

"No, not like that," Rick laughed. "All I'm saying is that you should try to think about me a _little_ less often. Not forget about me completely, but…oh, you know what I mean."

"Yes, I do. It's just…hard."

"I understand." Rick stared at the floor, a tad awkward for a moment. "I'm, uh, really going to miss you. I mean, some days I wish I could physically be with you all the time. Being a ghost is not all that."

"I'll miss you too. I have for the past thirteen years," Molly paused, then wiped a tear from her eye. She _wasn't_ going to cry right now. Crying could always be done in excess later. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Rick tense. _Fi and Jack must have broken down before. Not that I could blame them._ Remaining strong, she pulled over the book over to her and began to skim through it. It was time.

Rick slid next to her on the bed and put his hand on the book so she couldn't turn the pages. "There, ah, is one thing I'd to do before I go." She looked at him, confused. He leaned in and planted a full-force, passionate kiss on her lips.

Molly responded eagerly. She would have liked to go a little farther than a kiss – he still technically was her husband, after all. But they had discussed the possibilities last night, and he had said that it was physically impossible for a ghost and a witch to go to "third base." Both were very disappointed.

They parted after a few minutes, dazed in their emotions. Molly wished they didn't have to. _This is so damn hard. It's bad enough I had to lose him once, but twice? That's just plain cruel._ Even so, there wasn't one single thing she could do about it. Sighing deeply, she went back to the spell back. "I guess it's time to, uh, send you back."

Again, Rick put his hand on the pages, then took it out as he closed the book. "This doesn't require a spell."

"Oh." Molly suddenly felt incredibly stupid.

"No, it's ok. Most witches don't have to do this." Rick smiled, reading her thoughts. Molly couldn't help think that he was psychic too and just never told her.

Rick stepped back from the bed and towards the wall behind him. He paused. "You know I'll always be with you, right, Mol?"

"Of course," Molly smiled. "That goes without saying."

"Yeah, I just wanted to make sure." Rick grinned for a second, then suddenly became serious. "I love you so much."

"I love you too. That's another thing that goes without saying."

Rick stood still. A blue and white swirl or light twisted around him, and pretty soon engulfed him completely. His disembodied voice whispered, "Good bye, Molly."

"Good bye, Rick." Molly watched the swirl of light shoot upwards out of the room. Then she broke down and cried.

* * *

"It's about time you came out. A few minutes later and I would have sent in the hounds." Irene chided Molly, referring to the four teenagers sitting around her in the living room. Satisfied when the singer formed a small smile, she slid over on the couch and made room for her on the couch, kicking Carey off the end in the process.

"Hey!" He protested. He had been sitting next to his new girlfriend, Fi. Fi glanced down at him on the floor and stuck out her tongue, teasing him. Glaring at her, he whispered, "I'll deal with you later."

Fi only grinned in response. "I can't wait."

Chuckling to herself, Irene turned back to the crestfallen Molly. Her tone placating, she asked, "Is he…?"

Molly nodded solemnly. "Yeah, he's gone." She sat on the couch next to Irene and put her head on her shoulder.

There was silence. Ned, on the recliner, hung his head in reverence and sorrow. On the floor, Clu and Carey consolingly slapped Jack on the back, a guy's way of saying that everything was going to be ok. And on the couch, Molly, Irene, and Fi put their arms on each other's shoulders for comfort.

Wanting to break the growingly uncomfortable quiet, Jack happened to glance at the left corner of her room. Getting an idea, he went over and picked up his mother's guitar. Holding it out to Molly, he suggested, "Play something, Mom."

She began to object, but everyone cut her off with support of their own. Shrugging, she took the guitar out of her son's hands. When Jack sat back down, she strummed the chords a few times, checking that it was in tune. She cleared her throat, then started to play. "I can see clearly now the rain has gone…"

Ned, Irene, and Fi joined in. "I can see all the obstacles in my way…"

By the end of the first verse, everybody in that room was singing. "Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind, it's gonna be a bright, bright, bright, bright, sun-shiny day."

And, in a way, they all related to those words. This past experience had been taxing on every one of them. But had opened their eyes and the clouds had cleared. They now knew that whatever they might have to face in the future, they would be able to handle it – no matter how weird it may be.


End file.
